Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
by Jane Willow
Summary: Walt is recruited by Alice - a woman as myserious as he is - and told to gather people on the list. Some, like Charlie Hume, as easy. Others, like Clementine, will take convincing. But one thing is certain - they are going back. Complete.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_"It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress." - Jacob, "The Incident", season five._

Aaron's eye snaps open, his pupil dilating rapidly as the light nearly blinds him.

The back of his head screams with pain.

He tries desperately to think of where he was and how he'd gotten there. He is laying on something – something hard, yet it moves beneath him as he struggles to sit up. His hands dig into the surface as his still foggy mind works hard to find the word for it – _sand_.

He struggles to his feet, fighting to see past the little lights that popped up in front of him.

Staggering forward, squinting through the light that was not dazzlingly bright, but still more then he was used to, he tries to make out the dark figures in front of him.

But a sound reaches him first, a sound that is unmistakable, as if he'd heard it every day for years. _Waves_.

"Beach," he mumbles to himself, still staggering drunkenly over the sand, fighting for balance as the back of his head throbs.

A tall black man and a thin man with blond hair each had the arm of a very pregnant girl over their shoulders, helping her out of the water.

A woman with long, sandy blond hair is on all fours, coughing up water, her entire body heaving painfully.

A pretty Asian girl sits in front of another woman.

He struggles to make any sense of this. He tries desperately to remember who these people are, or if he knows them at all, but the pain in the back of his head keeps his thoughts sliding away from them. He looks around the beach, as the figures slowly come into focus, searching for someone else. Who, he wasn't sure, but he knew there was someone else.

The Asian girl sits facing the water, screaming desperately, though she stays with the woman with flaming red hair, who seems to be unconscious.

"_Aaron! Aaron!_"

She was calling for _him_.

He drags himself forward, trying to call back to her, whoever she was, but his mouth wouldn't form words.

It's enough; the girl turns her head, stands up, and runs to him.

She grabs him as he nearly looses his balance.

"Aaron! Oh, thank God, thank God," she pants. Her eyes are wild, panicked. "I thought you were still out there! I didn't see you, I…"

She stops talking, though Aaron doesn't notice. He's taking in her pretty face, trying so hard to remember why it means so much to him.

"Aaron," she says again. He likes it when she says his name. "Aaron, _you're head…_"

Aaron brings his hand up to the back of his head. It's hot and sticky wet. He brings his hand back and looks down at it. Red.

Before he could put these pieces together, make any sense of them, the beautiful girl's face starts to swim before him. Everything is blurred as he feels his knees give out and feels sand again.

"_Aaron_!"

Then black, then nothing.


	2. The White Rabbit

**Chapter One: _The White Rabbit_**

_"It'll come back around." - Duckett, "Outlaws", seaosn one._

The ship's called _White Rabbit_, though no one really knows why or what it means. Leave it up to an eighteen-year-old to name a boat and that's what you get.

Walt stands on the dock, greeting the crew, though it's not really much use. They don't speak any English, only Korean. He crinkles his papers anxiously in his hands and waits for the people on his list to show up.

He realizes how ironic it is, him making lists.

_But this is different_, he assures himself, _these people are coming willingly. _

He's surrounded by water and everything smells like the ocean.

He hates that smell.

He pulls himself out of thoughts about beaches and caves and fathers when he hears Alice walk up behind him. "They should be here soon," he says in her smooth, British accent. "You did tell them four o'clock, right?"

Walt nods.

He doesn't understand Alice. She dances around questions, easily sidesteps accusations, and manages to never really answer anything about herself. But there's something else – something he can't quiet place.

"Good," Alice says. She scans the dock and points up it. "Here comes someone now. Can you tell who it is?"

Walt's visited them all. He's tried to explain, tried to tell them that they had to go, that there were matters bigger then life and death at stake. Most of them thought he was insane. Some didn't.

He instantly recognizes the woman approaching and checks her off his list.

"It's Clementine," he tells Alice.

Clementine makes her way over to them as the crew takes her bags. She extends her hand to Alice, but looks like she's in no mood for formalities.

"Clementine Phillips."

"I know," Alice says.

Clementine draws her hand back, furrowing her brow sourly. She looks over at Walt. "So, I'm here. Happy?"

"Yes."

She looks around. "You said he'd be here," she snaps.

"He will be."

She rolls her eyes.

Walt motions over to the ship. "You can go get settled. Everyone will be here soon."

Clementine just nods, and turns back to Alice. "I'm sorry," she says, though she doesn't sound sorry at all, "I didn't catch your name."

"Alice."

Clementine waits. She wants a full name.

"Alice Faraday," Walt says, knowing Alice probably won't answer.

Alice flips her long, curly red hair over her shoulder, looking blankly up at Walt.

Clementine leaves the two and boards the boat. She thinks nothing of it.

* * *

When Megan Pace steps onto the ship, Aaron feels like he's just run into a brick wall.

"No _way_," he says hotly to Walt, "no way is _she_ coming."

"It'll be fine, Aaron," he assures him.

"No, it won't be! It's… _irresponsible_!"

"She's made her choice."

Megan walks up behind Walt. "The woman with the red hair said I should come see you," she says, trying not to interrupt.

Her blond bangs fell lightly over her forehead, the rest of her short hair pulled back into a little pony tail. She picks at her nail, absently.

"Megan, right?" Walt asks. But he knows – he's memorized all their faces, all their names.

She nods. "We spoke in the tea shop?"

He nods.

Aaron glares at both of them, angrily.

Walt checks her name off the list. "Welcome aboard, Miss Pace," he smiles.

"Thank you," she says, smiling back, her British accent reminding Aaron of something (_someone_) he couldn't quiet grasp.

"Sorry," Walt says, suddenly, "Miss Pace?"

"Megan, please." Her blue eyes smile at him.

"Just out of curiosity, how far along are you?"

She places a hand over her swollen belly. "I'm nearly eight months."

She leaves and Aaron glares at Walt. "This is a bad idea," he says before leaving, pulling his hoodie over his head.

* * *

"We should leave without him," Julian says. They stood up on the deck, looking over the empty dock. "It's almost six – maybe he's not coming."

"He'll be here," Walt says, calmly.

"We're wasting time. He's just a kid… do we really need – "

"He said he'll _be here_," Aaron snaps.

Clementine places a hand on Aaron's shoulder. It's not a kind action – it's a warning. _Calm down, kid._

But already Aaron doesn't like Julian Carlson. He seems cold and distant, his blue eyes icy.

He's a med student, Walt had told him. Aaron's sure his bedside manner must be terrible.

Julian's blond hair is neatly combed back, his button down shirt getting caught in the wind as he leans forward on the railing. He looks over at Walt. "So it's true?" Julian asks. "You've been there before?"

Walt just nods.

Just then a tiny figure appears running up the dock, brown curls bouncing around his head.

As quickly as he could, Charlie Hume bounds up to the _White Rabbit_, boarding it and dropping his bags. "I'm here!" he cries, smiling brightly. "I made it!"

Walt checks him off.

"Here," Aaron says, pushing past Julian and moving toward Charlie, "let me help you with your stuff." He doesn't want to stay with them any longer.

"Thanks, brother."

Aaron gives him a smile, grabbing a suitcase. "Jeez, what you got in here? Bricks?"

"_Books_."

"Oh."

"Oi," Charlie says, looking at Aaron's chest. "Is that a Geronimo Jackson shirt under your sweater?"

"Yeah… you've heard of them?"

"Heard of them? I bloody love 'em!"

* * *

Ji Yeon stands out on the deck, watching the crew bustle around in their red shirts as they prepare to leave now that everyone is there. She knows all of this is only happening because of her – she's funding everything. No one would have kept all this quiet if her name hadn't been attached to it.

She was raised a Paik, but somehow she knew that wasn't right.

But _this_… this will fix it.

The wind picks up and moves through her dark hair as she turns around to see a boy in a hoodie and a girl with long brown hair talking. She can't remember their names – Grapefruit and Anson or something. It doesn't matter.

She doesn't care why the rest of these people are here, what they're looking for, or what they're running from. All that matters is that she gets there – and she knows _there_ exists, no matter what her grandmother tells her. She needs to get there are find them.

* * *

Alice finds Walt below deck in his bunk. "This is everyone?" she asks.

"Everyone I could convince," he says, flatly.

"It's not enough," she says, almost to herself.

Walt sighs. "You keep saying that, and I still don't know what you mean."

"Did you talk to Isaac Troop?"

Walt puts his head in his hands. "Yes. I tracked him down for _months_, remember?"

"And?"

Walt looks back up at her, angrily. "He's not coming, Alice, I told you" He pauses, thinking. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to _find_ him?"

"And Annie Mars? You found her?"

"She won't leave her two kids."

"They can come, too."

"I told her that. She wouldn't listen."

Alice paces around the little room for a while. "This isn't good," she mumbles.

Walt falls back onto his bed. "Look, you found _me_, asked _me_ to get them all together. _You're_ the one that said we have to go… I've done everything you've asked, haven't I? The _least_ you can do is give me some answers."

"It had to be you," Alice says, coolly, not bothered by Walt's tone. "They wouldn't have listened to me. They know you."

"They don't _know_ me."

"But you were _there_," she explains. "At least, you were there the first time."

"Alice," Walt sighs, rubbing his temples. "Can you just tell me _why_ I needed to play Shepard and gather all these people?"

Alice sits down on the edge of the bed, but looks away from him, staring at the wall in front of her. "My grandmother died four years ago. Before she did, she made sure to tell me everything. She knew this was going to happen, but she had to wait."

Walt raises an eyebrow. "Wait?"

"Wait. Wait for everyone to grow up."

Walt narrows his eyes. "Why now? Why _them_?"

"Because," she said, folding her hands neatly on her lap, "the results can be very unpredictable."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She folds her arms across her chest and turns to leave. "How about you just let me handle the science, all right?"


	3. Money and Determination

**Chapter Two: _Money and Determination_**

_"Jin... You were right. It's a girl... She's beautiful. Ji Yeon. I named her just like you wanted." - Sun, "Ji Yeon", season four._

Ji Yeon's eye flutters open.

She blinks a few times and sits up, looking at the person standing in the doorway of her bunk.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were sleeping," says the man.

Ji Yeon shakes her head, rubbing her eyes. "No, no. I didn't mean to fall asleep," she says, trying not to yawn. "What time is it?"

"Close to six. I was just coming to tell you everyone's going to have dinner together. They were looking for you."

Ji Yeon stands up and walks over to the mirror she's tacked up beside the bed. After carefully checking her reflection, she smiles at the man. "Well, thank you for coming to get me. You're… _Aaron_, right?"

The man nods. He's young – no older then twenty.

She makes her way past him and into the hall that leads to the kitchen. Aaron walks beside her. It's cramped; their arms brush up against each other. "Hello, then, Aaron. I'm Ji Yeon."

He shoots her a little smile. "I know."

She raises an eyebrow, pretending she has no idea what he's talking about. "Really?"

Aaron stuffs his hands into his pockets. "Of course. Assuming there's only one _Ji Yeon _on this boat. You're the one funding all this. This is _your_ boat."

"It seems you've found me out."

"Was it a secret?" he smiles.

Ji Yeon shrugs. "Nothing about me is really a secret, now is it?"

"I guess not. But that's the price you pay for being a celebrity socialite, right?"

"Too true."

They turn a corner together.

Aaron looks back over at her. "Can I ask you a question?"

She flashes a practiced, brilliant smile up at him. "Of course."

"Why _are_ you funding this… expedition? I mean, it's pretty risky, right? If someone were to find out, they'd be asking a lot of questions. You've gone to great lengths to make sure that this all stays quiet, but you just said that the whole world knows about every move you make. So… why risk it?"

Ji Yeon's smile fades, but she still seems happy, upbeat.

Aaron sees right through it. Everything about her right now is fake – an act she's putting on for his benefit.

"I'm funding it because I want to find those people," she explains. "Because it's the right thing to do. And yes, it is difficult, but," at this her smile comes back, a little more mischievous this time, "the world only _thinks_ they know everything about me. There's a lot more to me then what you read in magazines."

Aaron narrows his eyes. "Because it's the _right thing_ to do? That's it?"

She pretends to be confused. "Of course it is. What else could it be?"

He shrugs. "I just figured you were out to find your parents. Maybe growing up an orphan was tough and you're trying to fix a crummy childhood. Why risk your skin for people you know nothing about, right?"

Ji Yeon frowns, slightly. "You're very frank, aren't you?"

"Well, I do my best."

She grins again. "Well, yes," she admits. "Obviously I want to find them, but I'm hoping to find all the survivors of that crash. It's only right."

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

He makes a point of looking her in the eye. "I think you're only telling me you want to save everyone because you don't want to admit you want to save your parents."

Ji Yeon looks genuinly confused. "Why would I do that?"

"Because," he says simply. "Saving _everyone_ makes you a good, noble person. Saving your _parents_ makes you vunerable, human."

She looks away, a little perturbed now. "And how, might I ask, do you know all this about me, Aaron?"

Aaron shrugs. "I guess I don't know it about you - but I know it about me."

She looks back up at him, but says nothing. Her act is gone now. Aaron likes her much better this way, even is she is anoyed with him.

They make their way through another doorway and Aaron waits until they pass a few crew members standing in the hall to say, "you believe there are more then just the Six on the Island?"

"You should know, shouldn't you?" she asks. "You were there."

Aaron doesn't say anything.

"And you're the only one left – the only one of the Six." She can tell she's starting to enjoy herself again, now that the conversation has turned.

"You know, then?"

"I'm very thorough, Aaron," she says, tucking some of her long, black hair behind her ear. "Like you have so kindly pointed out, this is _my_ expedition. I know everything about everyone on board."

"Everything?"

"If you mean me knowing that you changed your name from Austen to Littleton after your mother disappeared, then yes, _everything_."

Aaron wonders how much she actually _does_ know.

He shakes his head and smiles as they finally enter the kitchen together. "Do you know about my mother?" he asks.

"Yes, I know about your mother – Katharine Austen."

He mumbles something under his breath. So, she didn't know _everything_.

The finally make it into the little kitchen.

"I beg your pardon?" she says as they walk in.

Aaron doesn't answer because everyone greets them as they take their seats, not bothers to sit next to eash other.

The pregnant girl smiles as Ji Yeon sits across from her. "Hi," she says, kindly, extending her hand. "I'm Megan."

Ji Yeon shakes her hand. "Ji Yeon. Nice to meet you."

Aaron sits down next to Clementine as they all start to eat. But he watches as Ji Yeon chats with everyone, effortlessly charming them, making them all feel comfortable and welcome.

She's kind, she's smart, she's beautiful. She's _perfect_.

Or so she'd have everyone think.

Aaron starts to think maybe he's not so sure.

* * *

_"Halmoni, _please_," Ji Yeon groaned in her native Korean, "I don't _like_ those shoes."_

_"Don't be silly," her grandmother said, "these shoes are lovely."_

_Ji Yeon sat in front of her over-sized vanity, staring into her mirror. Her grandmother stood beside her, holding up the shoes expectantly. One of the house's servants stood quietly by the door. _

_"Put them on," her grandmother insisted._

_Ji Yeon knew what she had to do. The only thing she could do, really, was to take the shoes. She needed to make her grandmother happy. Because that's what she did – she made people happy, gave them what she wanted. She was practiced in the art of saying the right thing at the right time and doing what was expected of her. _

_It made sure people didn't ask questions._

_She looked up at the elderly woman and sighed. "Yes, Grandmother, I'll wear them. You're right, they _are_ lovely."_

_Mrs. Paik smiled wide, handing her granddaughter the plain, low shoes. "Wonderful!" she beamed. She bent as best as could and kissed the top of Ji Yeon's head. "You're such a good girl, Ji Yeon. Always listening."_

_With that, her grandmother left, the servant silently following her out the door. _

_Ji Yeon slipped the shoes on. They were tan, with a half-inch heal, nothing spectacular about them. _

_She hated them._

_But she put a smile on her face and smoothed out her hair, ready to take on the world behind her mask._

_She touched up her pale pink lips. She still wanted to look nice, after all. There were going to be cameras._

_--- * --- * ---_

_"Thank you all so much for coming out and supporting this worthy cause," Ji Yeon said, eloquently in English. Cameras flashed and tape recorders rolled as she smiled brilliantly behind the podium. _

_She was hosting another charity gala. North Korea's finest were all there, as well as many people from other countries. But Ji Yeon didn't get nervous anymore. This had been normal, her everyday life, since before she could remember._

_She gave her spiel about endangered animals, their strife and needless suffering, and about all the things everyone could do to help. They took more photos, dried their eyes, and applauded. _

_It was her favourite sound in the world._

_Then there were the questions. She liked this part – she got to think on her feet._

_A woman stood up. "Miss Paik, my name is Andrea Cohen of America's_ Fashion First_ magazine. May I just say, you look beautiful today."_

_"Thank you," Ji Yeon smiled, modestly. She could practically see the crowd melting._

_"My question is, where did you get your shoes?"_

_"That is actually a funny story," she began. But she was interrupted._

_A man in a suit stood up. He clearly seemed to think his question was far more important. "Miss Paik, do you know the whereabouts of your mother?"_

_There were a few gasps, some quiet mumurs, and disaproving looks cast at the man._

_The colour drained from Ji Yeon's face, but she kept her composure. "No. I do not."_

_The man continued. "Do you not find it odd, Miss Paik, that all of the Oceanic Six went missing – at the same time – _again_?"_

_"What happened to those survivors was tragic and - "_

_"Did your grandfather have anything to do with this?" the man intjected. "Is he in any way affiliated with the Widmore Corporation? Is it not true that your mother met with Mr. Widmore – "_

_"I am in no way affiliated with the Widmore Corporation," she said, quickly._

_"Miss Paik," he went on, " do you believe the Oceanic Six are still alive? Is _your mother_ still alive?"_

_There was a heavy silence._

_"No."_

_A man, her lawyer, stepped in front of Ji Yeon, leaning into the microphone. "Any questions concerning to Oceanic Six or the controversy surrounding them will not be answered. Miss Paik has already stated she knows nothing about them."_

_He moved back, leaving Ji Yeon the microphone again._

_The man still stood._

_"Do you have another question?" she asked._

_"No."_

_"What company do you represent?" she asked, still trying to seem calm, ignoring as best she could the murmurs from the crowd._

_The man stood a little straighter. "My name is Mark Lapidus. And I don't represent any company. I'm just here to find some answers."_

Terrific_, she thought, _another conspiracy buff_._

_"I've got all the answers you need," Ji Yeon said, smiling brightly. Lapidus looked surprised. He poised his pen over his notepad._

_"So long," Ji Yeon continued, "as they pertain to the animals that so desperately need our help."_

* * *

Ji Yeon sees Julian slumped over the railing, head ducked low between his shoulders.

She walks over to him, sidestepping a crate and smoothing down her hair. "Hello," she says, smiling a little.

Julian doesn't look up at her. "I'm sorry, Miss Paik," he says in a low voice, "but you'll have to forgive me. You haven't caught me at my finest hour."

He answers her next question before she has a chance to ask it when his whole body heaves and he retches over the side of the boat.

Ji Yeon takes a quick step back. "Do you want me to… get the doctor or something? He speaks English."

He shakes his head, feebly. "I'm fine."

She couldn't help but smile. Julian came off as cold, stern, almost intimidating, hardened beyond his twenty-something years. But there was no escaping seasickness.

She stepped toward him again and placed her hand lightly on his back. "Do you want any water or something?"

She hears him chuckle.

"What?"

"Nothing," he says, still not looking up at her. "It's just I never thought that _Ji Yeon Paik_ would be offering to get me water."

"You know who I am, then," she says matter of factly.

Her hand is still on his back.

"Of course I know who _you_ are."

Ji Yeon leans her back against the railing, folding her arms across her chest. "Well, that takes care of that. But _I_ don't know anything about _you_." It's a lie – she knows everything about Julian Carlson – but this makes the introduction much more fun.

"Ji Yeon – is it all right if I call you Ji Yeon?"

She nods.

"All right, Ji Yeon. You don't have to wait here with me. Please, don't feel obligated."

She smiles. "Of course I have to stay here. Who else is going to be your nurse?"

Finally, he looks up at her and smiles. She smiles back.

Then he leans over and vomits again.

* * *

_"Are you still throwing up?"_

_"Oh, Ji… get me some water…"_

_Ji Yeon rolled her eyes, her hands set on her hips. "You're pathetic, Young-Il, do you know that?"_

_The girl moaned, her head still ducked in the toilet. "Well… at least I didn't have to wear a _mask_ to the party."_

_Blushing, Ji Yeon quickly looked up at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She still wore the mask that covered half of her face, her eyes lined the glitter and her forehead topped with feathers._

_"Shut up," she hissed. "You know I can't be seen… _out_ like this." _

_"That's right, I forgot," Young-Il laughed, feebly. "What would they say if Korea's golden girl got caught in high heels?"_

_Ji Yeon tore the mask off, angrily. "Oh, please, Young, you were at the same club I was – it wasn't just that I was wearing high heels."_

_Both women remembered the dark club, the thick fog, the booming bass lines, the naked dancers, the heavy drugs, the burning alcohol. It was a small wonder _everyone_ there hadn't worn a mask._

_"Just because you don't care about your image doesn't mean I don't care about mine," she said, coldly._

_"True," mumbled Young-Il, "who would speak up of all those poor animals without you?"_

_Ji Yeon just rolled her eyes, and turned to leave. _

_"Water!" Young-Il called after her._

_"You've had more then enough drinks given to you tonight," she called hotly over her shoulder, "get this one yourself."_

_Ji Yeon walked out into the main room of Young-Il's new, very large house. Young-Il was an up-and-coming singer, full of promise and slowly but surely climbing the charts. And wasting it all on late nights and easy boys. _

_People were sprawled out everywhere, hanging over chairs, lying under tables. It was pathetic. Ji Yeon looked around until she found him._

_Her high, black boots clicked on the wood floor as she walked toward her boyfriend, Shin, who stretched himself out on a couch, his eyes half open._

_"Ji Yeon," he drawled slowly when she finally came into focus. "You skirt is getting longer."_

_"No it's not," she said, pushing his legs out of her way and sitting down next to him, "you're just getting soberer."_

_He laughed. "We'll have to take care of that."_

_Ji Yeon shook her head. "Shin, it's nearly five o'clock. We need to get home soon."_

_Shin shrugged. "Since when did you care about 'getting home'?" he asked. "Here," he said, pulling something out of his back pocket. "You wanna do another line?" _

_"Did you hear what I just said? We need to go home."_

_Wrinkling his nose, Shin leaned back. "Relax…I thought you liked going out with me."_

_She sighed. "Young-Il is puking her guts out right now… this isn't exactly my idea of _fun_."_

_"Ji," he said, leaning forward, "look around you. These people are the hottest, most famous people in the country. We've got the power and money to do _whatever_ we want. Don't you see? It just doesn't get any better then this."_

_Shin smiled, but Ji Yeon stared blankly at the floor. _

_"Ji? Ji, are you all right?"_

_"I think we should break up."_

_"_What_?"_

_Ji Yeon kept her face blank. "We should break up."_

_"Why?" Shin demanded._

_Young-Il vomited loudly._

_She rolled her eyes. "Because _it gets better then this_," she explained simply. "For me, at least."_

_"What's that supposed to mean?"_

_"You didn't bother coming to the gala today."_

_"So?"_

_"There was a man there. He… Shin, do you realize who I _am_?"_

_"Of course I do," he said, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. "You're _Ji Yeon Paik._ You're the most famous girl in North Korea."_

_Ji Yeon sighed. "Don't call me again," she said as she stood up and left._

_"Ji! Ji Yeon, come back!"_

_But she didn't bother turning back to look at him. All her life she had been searching for something she couldn't quite place – something dangerous, secret, wonderful. She was foolish enough when she was young to think she could find it here, with these people, but she knew now that she was wrong. She knew now exactly what she needed._

_She was going to need a boat._

* * *

Clementine looks out over the water. She's been to lakes and rivers, even spent two weeks on a houseboat, but she has never even seen the ocean before.

She was trying to take it all in.

It played with her mind: so much empty space, but nowhere to run to.

"Hello."

She turns her head and saw Walt walking toward her. She leans over the railing, wind moving through her light brown hair. "What do you want?" she sighs.

"Nothing. I just came over to say hi." He stands next to her, looking out over the brilliant blues and slow moving waves.

She rolls her eyes. "Well, you've said it."

"True… but you haven't said it back."

"I never said I was going to."

"It's only polite."

Clementine raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Do I look like I care about being polite?"

Walt laughs quietly and shakes his head.

"What?"

"You sound just like him."

"Like who?"

Walt's smile fades. "Like Sawyer. Who did you think I meant?"

Clementine turns to him, the coldness that had hardened her face melting away, replaced by something Walt couldn't quite name.

"_Sawyer_?" she repeats.

"Yeah… what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she mumbles, looking back out over the water. "I just… I guess I thought you were lying."

He looks down at her. "About what?"

She looks up. He's tall – very tall. And he's got dark brown eyes that she's almost afraid to look into too long. "About him," she admits. "About you knowing him. Only people who _knew_ him called him 'Sawyer'. His real name was – "

"James Ford. I know."

Clementine sets her jaw again, looking back out over the emptiness. "Right, I forgot. You know everything."

"Not everything."

She looks up at him, unconvinced.

"Just most things," he smiles.

Clementine cracks a smile and Walt feels like he's won some sort of victory.

"He was a good man, you know," he continues. "Hurley told me what he did – "

Suddenly, Clementine looks as if she's about to spit venom. "He was _not_ a good man. I don't care _what_ he did when he was in that stupid place. I know him better then you ever did."

"You've never met him."

Clementine clenches her fists at her sides. "Don't talk about things you don't know anything about. He _conned_ my mother, _lied_ to her, he _abandoned_ me. He never cared for anyone in his life – except himself."

Walt looks at her sympathetically. "People change."

She gives a little snort. "A tiger don't change his stripes." She sighs, her brow furrowed, then leaves Walt alone on the deck, wishing very much that he would have just said 'hi' after all.

* * *

Ji Yeon hasn't seen Julian since he stumbled back into his bunk. She sits in a little room below deck that they've made into a common room, thumbing absently through a British magazine Megan had brought with her.

The door opens. She looks up, hoping it isn't Clementine – it's clear she doesn't like her much.

But she's relieved. It's Aaron.

"Hi, Ji Yeon," he says. "Have you seen Charlie?"

She shakes her head. "No, sorry. He's probably in his room, reading."

Aaron nods, but doesn't leave. "Are... are you all right?"

She raises her eyebrows. "Yeah, fine. Why?"

Aaron walks into the room, takes a seat across from her. "You just look…" He searches for the word. "Sad."

Ji Yeon gives him a little smile. "I'm fine, Aaron."

"No, you're not."

"And how do you know?"

"Well, for starters, you're holding that magazine upside down."

Ji Yeon smiles, a little embarrassed. "I guess I'm just a bit… distracted."

"Why?"

She narrows her eyes a bit. "Don't ask just to be polite."

"I'm not," he assures her, sitting down. He means it.

She puts the magazine down. "Aaron… you were there, but… I wasn't. And, I'm just…" She sighs. "What if it's not what I think? What if I can't do it?"

"What if you can't find them, you mean?"

She lowers her eyes.

Aaron's a little taken back. He's known Ji Yeon for a few days now, but never has he seen her show any real emotion. It was odd to not see her confident and proud, charming everyone she meets.

"Look," he says, "I don't know what we're going to find there… I don't know if they're there or not… but we're trying, right? That's got to count for something."

She nods.

"And," he continues, leaning forward, "you've got to be confident. Have a little faith. You wouldn't be here if you didn't think there was some hope, right?"

She nods again. "With enough money and determination, you can find anyone."

Aaron smiles. "Well, you've got loads of both. And if you ever run out of determination, I'll lend you some of mine."

She smiles back. "Thanks, Aaron."

"You're quite welcome."

* * *

_"You're doing _what_?"_

_"I'm going away for a while," Ji Yeon repeated, simply._

_Her grandfather lay covered in blankets in his bed. Monitors and IV lines flanked his sides. It was odd to see such a powerful man so weak, but he was getting old. Ji Yeon knew he wouldn't last all that much longer and that everything he had, he meant to give to her. That was why he was so upset._

_"But _where_?" he barked. "Where are you going?"_

_"I'm going…out on a boat."_

_"No, no, no!" cried her grandfather, enraged. "Do I look stupid to you? You're going _there_! You're going to try and find them!"_

_Ji Yeon's grandmother, who sat beside her husband, grabbed her hand. "Listen to me, dear. Listen. You _always_ listen to your Halmoni."_

_"I'm eighteen now, Halmoni," she said, gently. "I can make my own decisions. It's all been arranged. I'm leaving."_

_"No!" her grandfather spat. "No, this will not happen again!"_

_"Again?" Ji Yeon said, confused._

_Her grandmother shook her head and placed her hand on Ji Yeon's knee. "But why would you want to leave? Everything you want is here."_

_Ji Yeon put her head down. It was no use trying to explain – explain all the years she's faked it, for her grandparents, for Shin, for the press._

_"It's just something I have to do," she said, finally. "I'll be back." Her eyebrows came together involuntarily. "I love you two very much." It was one of the few things she'd said in the past few years that she'd truly meant._

_With that, she left, scared, but excited. _

_--- * --- * ---_

_She'd bought the boat, christened it the _White Rabbit_, and hired the crew. Standing out on the dock, sunglasses protecting her from the sun and prying eyes, she spotted a man walking toward her, towering nearly a head over her crew._

_"Can I help you?" she asked in Korean._

_The man cocked his head to the side. "Are you Ji Yeon Paik?" He spoke English._

_She looked at him suspiciously, wondering whether or not she should tell him. She'd gone to great lengths to ensure that no one knew what she was up to._

_"You do speak English, don't you?"_

_"Yes. ...who are you?"_

_"My name is Walt Lloyd. And I believe you and I have similar interests."_

_It was Ji Yeon's turn to cock her head. "I'm listening."_

_"There is a woman named Alice Faraday who's sent me to find everyone – everyone connected to the people who were on Oceanic 815."_

_Ji Yeon felt her heart jolt. "Mr. Lloyd, I believe we have a lot to discuss."_

* * *

Later that evening everyone was gathered into the makeshift common room. Julian even managed to make it out of his bunk.

"You'll feel better," Megan assures him. "If I can deal with morning sickness, you can deal with seasickness."

Clementine sits with Aaron and they talk quietly. Charlie and Walt were playing cards. Walt seemed to be winning.

Ji Yeon felt a smile tug at her lips. She had a feeling that, in time, they could come to live together.


	4. A Very Important Place

**Chapter Three: _A Very Important Place_**

_"Hell of a book. It's about bunnies." - Sawyer, "Confidence Man", season one_

Aaron and Clementine had spent most of their time talking together, catching up and filling each other in on what had happened since they had stopped seeing each other.

After Aaron's grandmother had started taking care of him, she had moved him back to Australia and changed his name to Littleton. It made things easier. The press was thrown off; while the world wondered what had happened to little Aaron Austen, no one bothered with Aaron Littleton.

Cassidy and Clementine had flown down to see them a few times, and Carole would bring Aaron back to the States to visit with them. But eventually, the two families grew apart.

Aaron was eager to hear everything Clementine remembered about Kate, the woman who had raised him when he was young – the woman he only just remembered himself.

Clementine was just glad to see Aaron again. He was the only reason she'd come. (Almost.)

"So, what did Kate say? To your mom, you know, when she left?"

Clementine shrugs. "I don't remember. I don't think she said anything. Mom didn't talk about her too much. They were really close. She was really upset when she left."

"But… she didn't say _anything_? She told my grandma she was going back for my mother… but she never came back. I just don't get it, why did she leave me? She didn't tell your mom anything?"

Clementine shakes her head. "Not anymore then that."

Aaron sighs heavily.

"She really loved you, Aaron."

"I just don't understand," he mutters. "Did she… _take_ me? My grandma told me that she said she had to _take me_; that she said he _had_ to leave my mother, but…"

Clementine put her hand on Aaron's shoulder. "We're gunna find out, okay? We're gunna find them – both of them."

Aaron just nods.

"Hey," Clementine says, a little more cheerfully, "why don't you go find Charlie? He'll cheer you up."

"Is this your way of getting rid of me?" he smiles.

Clementine nudges him playfully with her shoulder. "Oh, yeah. Deffinately. Ever since you stated talking like an Aussie, it's like I don't even know you anymore."

"Bloody Yank."

Clementine laughs as he walks away. "Find me at dinner!"

Aaron just holds up his hand and disappears through a doorway.

"Never seen you smile so much."

Clementine turns around with a start. "Walt! You scared me."

"Sorry. So, what's his secret?"

"What's _who's_ secret?" she asks, walking away. He follows a step behind her.

"Aaron's. He's the only one I've seen make you laugh."

Clementine shrugs. "I like him better then you," she says, but she sounds like she's half joking.

Walt smiles. "I guess I'm just going to need to practice then."

* * *

Aaron knocks on Charlie's bunk door.

"Come in."

He walks in, seeing Charlie laying out on his bed, a book in his hand. "Oh, hiya Aaron," he smiles, marking his page.

"Hey. Watcha reading?"

"_Watership Down_. I've read it before, but it's one of my favourites. Kinda reminds me of what we're doing now."

"Oh yeah?" Aaron asks, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "How so?"

"Well, it's about all these rabbits and – "

"I know, I know, I read it. But how does it remind you of _us_?"

Charlie beams. "You read?"

Aaron shrugs. "Sometimes."

"Well," Charlie goes on, "don't you see it? _They_ go on a big adventure, _we're_ going on a big adventure…"

Aaron nods. "All right. Who am I?"

"Huh?"

"Come on. If the book is so much like what we're doing, which character am I?"

Charlie thinks for a minute. "Hazel, probably."

"Nah, Walt's Hazel."

"Blackberry?"

"What, I can't be the strong one? What's he called again?"

Charlie laughs. "Bigwig?"

"That's the one!"

"Fine, fine. You can be Bigwig. Who am I?"

"Easy – you're Fiver." Aaron looks around the room. "Wow… you've got a lot of books in here."

Charlie shrugs. "I read a lot."

"Clearly."

"I grew up on a houseboat, so it wasn't like I could just go out and play whenever I wanted… so I read. A lot," he laughs.

Aaron scans the titles of the books that are piled up against the wall: _A Clockwork Orange, Life of Pi, Through the Looking Glass, Our Mutual Friend, Lord of the Flies... _it goes on and on.

"Reminds me of home," Charlie says, softly.

* * *

_"…_When Margaret grows up she will have a daughter, who is to be Peter's mother in turn; and thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless_." Penny smiled down at her son, as they both lay down on the sofa._

_"I liked that one," seven-year-old Charlie yawned._

"_Me, too."_

"_It would be fun, wouldn't it? To live in Neverland and never grow up."_

"_Yes," Penny agreed, "I suppose it would."_

"_I don't think I want to grow up."_

_Penny looked down loving at Charlie. "Sorry, love. But I don't think there's a real place where people don't age."_

"_If there is," Charlie said, "I'd like to go there."_

"_Go where?"_

_The two looked up to the doorway, where Desmond stood, buttoning his shirt._

"_Your son wants to go to Neverland and live with the Lost Boys," Penny explained._

"_Oh really?" Desmond said, amused. He walked over and scooped a giggling Charlie up in his arms. "Well, I'll just have to bar your window, won't I? Because I'm not letting you out of my sight."_

_He smothered his face with kisses. Penny laughed._

"_Hey," Desmond said suddenly, setting Charlie back down. "We'll be in Fiji soon. You guys want to go exploring tomorrow?"_

_Penny stood up and grabbed Desmond's hand. "I'd've thought you'd had enough of exploring islands."_

"_Well, maybe _I_ have, but Charlie hasn't, have you?"_

_Charlie shook his head enthusiastically. "No! I can't wait to go exploring. It'll be just like a real adventure, won't it?"_

_Desmond nodded. "You can have all the adventures you want – so long as I'm with you, all right?"_

_Charlie nodded. "Right!"_

* * *

Later that day, Charlie sits alone in the kitchen, eating a sandwich, when Alice walks in.

"Hello Alice," Charlie says brightly.

"Hello," she replies politely as pours herself a glass of water.

Charlie recognizes her from somewhere. Or, at least, he feels he ought to. He can't quite place it, but he feels like he knows her. That he _should_ know her.

Alice knows he's staring at her. And she knows why. But that's a subject better left alone right now. "I'm glad you could join us, Charlie," she says, sliding into the seat next to him.

The suspicion that had lined his young face faded away as his usual smile came back. "Right glad I could come. It's a real adventure."

"Your parents were all right with you leavin?"

Charlie nods. "Yeah… they know I know my way around a boat. My dad taught me," he explains, "he knows everything about boats."

Alice's eyes darken somehow and it's nearly enough to frighten Charlie. "No, I mean leaving for _there_."

He lowers his eyes, his smile gone. "I, uh… I didn't exactly tell them _where_ I was going. I told them I got a job as a crew member."

"And they didn't question Miss Paik's name? Your father would have recognized it."

Charlie puts his head down, his cheeks burning. "I didn't show them."

Alice could see that it hurt Charlie to lie to his parents. He loved them very much. But she also knows she needs to lead the conversation, so he doesn't start asking the wrong questions. Plus, she's interested in his family.

"Why go through all the trouble?" she asks, narrowing her eyes. "Why did you agree to come when Walt saw you, Charlie?"

"Because," he murmurs, "there are… things…" He looks back up at her. "Things they're not telling me. I came here for answers."

* * *

_It was a difficult decision, but it had to be done._

_Penny's father was sick. Very sick._

_They docked in England in early March. Charlie was twelve years old, but he had never met his grandfather. He was nervous. But he didn't dare tell his parents. His mother had been weeping all week, and Desmond had done nothing but fret over her. Charlie figured it was a bad time to bother them._

_Charlie and Desmond sat in the waiting room of a hospital while Penny visited with her father for the first time in years._

"_What's he like?" Charlie asked his father._

_Desmond sighed, clearly trying to find a way not to lie, but to also sound kind. "He's… very powerful. Very determined."_

"_Oh. What do I call him? Grandfather? Mr. Widmore? Pappy?"_

_Desmond laughed. "No, maybe not 'Pappy'… Grandpa should be fine."_

_Just then Penny walked through the doorway, wiping her eyes. "Um, Charlie, sweetie, your granddad wants to see you." She looked over at Desmond, who shifted uneasily in his seat._

_Charlie looked over at his father. Desmond nodded. "Go on, Charlie. Go say goodbye."_

_Charlie jumped up and walked slowly through the hallway until he found a room with a paper taped to it that said 'Widmore'._

_He knocked and walked it._

_An old, frail looking man lay out on the bed, expensive-looking flowers covering the shelves and tables in the room._

_He smiled. "Charlie," he said. "Come here, boy. Come and see me."_

_Nervous again, Charlie walked over to the man's bedside. Widmore reached out and grabbed his hand. "Do you know who I am?"_

_Charlie nodded._

"_Good, good," the man smiled. "I'm so glad that you could come and see me."_

"_I'm glad, too, Grandfather."_

_Widmore laughed, but his breath sounded shaky. "Listen, son. I'm glad you're here because we need to have a talk – just you and me, all right?"_

_Charlie nodded again._

"_Charlie… can you keep a secret?"_

* * *

Ji Yeon sits in the common room, filing her nails. Julian came in. He looked his usual self again. He wore a dark blue sweater, his blond hair neatly combed, his gray eyes shining. "Hello again," she smiles.

Julian takes a seat beside her. "Hello. I see you're keeping busy."

"Oh, very. Got to keep up appearances, right?" She examines her nails happily.

"I'm sure you'll have no trouble with that," he says, leaning over to her a bit.

Ji Yeon giggles girlishly.

"Ah-_em_."

The two look over and see Megan sitting near by, eating soup.

"Oh, hello Megan," Julian says, coolly.

"Just letting you know I'm here," she muttered before becoming extremely interested in her soup again.

Ji Yeon glances back at her nails. "Well, I'm finished," she says. She stands up and slowly makes her way to the door. She throws a look back over her shoulder at Julian. "I'll see _you_ later."

"Look forward to it."

Megan put her head in her hand. "Oh, boy."

* * *

"So, what's it like there?"

Walt and Aaron sit on one side of a small table, Clementine and Charlie on the other.

Aaron shrugs. "I have no idea. I don't remember anything… at least, I don't think I do."

Clementine turns to Walt. "Do you remember?"

He smirks. "Care about what I have to say now?"

Clementine rolls her eyes. "This is important."

Walt looks at the three of them. "Look, there's a lot I remember, but… I'm not so sure I want to talk about it right now."

Clementine almost looks sympathetic.

Charlie leans forward. "Well, do you know why it's so hard to find? I must have Goggled it about a hundred times…"

"I don't know. I don't know much about that place… only what happened when I was there. And that wasn't very long," he adds, quietly.

"I remember a knitted sock," Aaron says, distantly. He turns to Walt. "Why do I remember a _sock_?"

Walt shrugs.

"But… what about before you were there?" Charlie asks. "What do you know about, you know… the _history_?"

Walt looks confused. "Nothing. I really don't know anything at all about what happened before we got there."

"And a red ball!" Aaron cries, excitedly.

Charlie ignores the rest of the group as they chat about toy balls and socks and dogs and comics. He may have never been there before, but he thinks he knows more about the Island then even Walt.

* * *

"_Can you keep a secret?" Widmore asked again._

_Charlie nodded. "Yes, sir."_

"_Sit down, boy, sit down."_

_Charlie pulled up a chair and sat down next to his grandfather._

"_Do you like stories, son?"_

_Charlie nodded. "Yes, granddad, I love them."_

"_Wonderful. I've got a story for you, but the best part is, _it's true_."_

_Charlie leaned in closer, fascinated._

"_It's about a place, a wonderful, very old, very _important_ place. An Island. And it's mine, son. It was mine."_

"_Are you… a king or something?" Charlie asked, completely absorbed._

_Widmore laughed. "No, no, boy…more like… a president. No, no, not quite like a president… Anyhow, it _was_ mine. But it was taken."_

"_Taken?" Charlie repeated. "By who?"_

"_That doesn't matter," he wheezed. "What matters is, it should be mine. But, as you can see," he laughed weakly, "I can't go back there. But you, Charlie," he said, suddenly serious, "_you_ can. That wonderful, beautiful place is _your's._"_

"_You're _giving_ it to me?"_

"_Consider it a very, very late birthday gift."_

* * *

They decide to gather in the common room and play charades. _Bonding_, Megan calls it. Charlie, Clementine and Walt were on one team, Aaron, Ji Yeon and Julian on the other. Megan keeps score.

"All right," Megan announces, "you're up, Charlie."

Charlie stands up and grabs a little piece of paper from the bowl. _Jellyfish_.

He must look confused because when he looks back up everyone is laughing.

"Come on, Charlie, we're loosing!" Clementine cries.

"Don't worry – I never loose," Walt assures her.

Clementine ignores him. "Save us, Charlie! Save us!"

"No pressure," Aaron laughs.

"All right, all right," Charlie says. "I'm starting."

Megan flips the timer.

Charlie starts making wild motions with his hands, sinking down onto the floor.

"Uh… old man?" Walt tries. "Mental patient?"

"Jeez, Charlie, you look like you're drowning!" Clementine cries. "Quick, do something else!"

Charlie thinks for a moment, panicked. He moves over to Megan and pretends to zap her.

"What the - ?"

"A drowning, stinging thing?" Clementine guesses. "What the…?"

"Jellyfish!" cries Walt.

* * *

_Charlie sat in a little café in England, four years after his grandfather had died. His mother and father were out shopping, moving nostalgically through the places they remembered._

_Charlie waited for them in the café, drinking his hot chocolate silently._

_Silently, that is, until someone came and sat with him._

_"Charlie Hume?" the man asked._

_"Yes…"_

_The man beams, panting as if he'd just run a mile. "_Thank God._ They said you were here, but I didn't think... Do you have any _idea_ how hard you are to find?"_

_"Uh…"_

"_Never mind. I'm Walt Lloyd," Walt said, extending his hand. "And what I'm about to say is going to sound insane, but I need you to listen very, very carefully…"_

_Charlie raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"_

_Walt hesitates._

_"Just tell me."_

_"All right… There's an island," Walt said, slowly. "An island that I need you to go to."_

_Charlie thought for a minute._ An island_? "What kind of island?"_

_"Charlie , have you heard of Oceanic 815? The Oceanic Six?"_

_Charlie nodded._

_"_That_ island."_

_Charlie felt his stomach tighten. _His_ Island. For years he had waited - waited for something, anything, to happen. His granfather had told him wild stories, before he died, stories Charlie only half believed were true. But now, finally, he would have answers. Answers he knew he'd never get from his parents._

_"All right,"_

_It was Walt's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What did you just say?"_

_"All right," Charlie repeated. "I'll go."_

_Walt eyed him suspiciously. "Really? Just like that?" _

_"Yeah. I'll go."_

_He smiled widely. "Wow! You have no idea the problems I've had trying to convince everyone else…"_

_"Everyone else?"_

_Walt leaned over the table. "Let me explain..."_

_--- * --- * ---_

_"Mum, Dad… I want to go to Australia."_

_"Australia?" Penny asked. "We're weeks away from Australia, Charlie. Why on Earth do you want to go there?"_

_Charlie swallowed, hard. "I, er, got a job."_

_"How did you get a job in Australia?" Desmond asked. "We haven't been there in years."_

_"I signed up in England," he said, quickly. "I'm a crew member on a ship."_

_"But what about school?" Penny asked, hurriedly. _

_"I'll study on the boat, Mum, honest!"_

_"I don't know…" muttered Desmond._

_"How long will you be away for?" asked Penny._

_"Eight months."_

_Desmond turned to Penny. "That's a long time."_

_"Not that long," Charlie interjected. "And I _really_ want to go." _

_Desmond opened his mouth to say sometheing, but Penny gave him a look. "Des, he's been stuck with is parents for sixteen years," she pointed out. "Maybe… maybe this would be good for him."_

_Desmond didn't look convinced. "I don't know… we don't know anything about this job."_

_"I've got all the information," Charlie said, thrusting a bunch of papers at his parents. He'd tactfully left a few of the papers out – at Walt's suggestion._

_Penny sorted through the papers. "Well… it looks like everything is in order…" She looked over to Desmond. "What do you think?"_

_"Eight months is a long time."_

_"Oh, please Dad, please."_

_Desmond's face softened. He could never say no when his son looked at him like that._

_"Fine," he muttered._

_Charlie smiled and jumped up. He hugged his mother, then his dad. "Thanks so much! I'm so excited!"_

_Desmond hugged his back, kissing the top of his head. "But you listen to me – you'd better come back."_

_"Of course I'm coming back," Charlie laughed._

_"Don't let the ocean get to you," Desmond said, warningly. "It's very tempting, to spend your life at sea. The ocean's swallowed many men up, Charlie."_

_Charlie's eyebrows contract. "Dad, I've spent my entire life at sea. I think I'll survive."_


	5. They Need You

**Chapter Four: _They Need You_**

_"Who said it was a nightmare?" - Claire, "Raised By Another", season one_

Somewhere, a baby is crying.

Megan, her head still hazy with sleep, walks through the dark hall and onto the stairs that lead up to the deck.

It's still night. And very cold.

She wraps her arms around herself.

But something is sickeningly wrong.

Her stomach is _flat_.

Her baby wails.

She panics, racing onto the open deck, her eyes searching wildly, trying in vain to pierce through the dark.

She finds Aaron. His sweater is zipped up against the cold, his hood casting half of his face in shadow.

"Aaron! Aaron!" Her voice is shrill, almost manic. "You've got to help me! The _baby_, Aaron! I c-cant…"

It seems like Aaron isn't listening. He's looking out over the black, angry water.

"_Aaron_!"

"The baby, the baby," Aaron repeats, sounding far too relaxed. He looks at her. "Think about the baby, Megan. No one thinks about the baby." She stares at him. She can only make out half his face in the dark. "Wouldn't she be my sister, Megan?" He looks at her like she's supposed to know already.

"What? N-no. Of course not. Aaron, listen, we have to – "

"Not blood, not blood…" he murmurs, looking back to the water. "A sister, still."

Megan wants to scream at him, to slap him, she shake him.

"No one thinks about the baby, Megan, no one thinks about the baby…"

She hears crying again.

She turns.

But she doesn't see her baby.

She sees Charlie.

Leaning on a _piano_.

She's so stunned, she doesn't notice the dark figure standing far behind him.

Megan leaves Aaron to mutter about babies and sisters and oceans and crashing helicopters and she races, heart pounding, legs shaking, to Charlie.

He speaks before she does.

"Go on, Megan. Play us a tune."

She's confused. "I don't play," she says, slowly.

Charlie crosses his arms over the back of the piano. The boat rocks unsteadily. "I know. Remember how disappointed Daddy was when you stopped? Not for you, you said, not a note."

"Charlie, I don't…"

"But you can fix it, Megan. Play."

She's too scared to deny him.

She pulls out the bench and sits down, fingers hovering hesitantly over the black and white keys.

The wind howls.

"Ch-Charlie, I don't want to…" Tears sting her eyes. "I don't want to. I don't want to be here, I can't be here…"

Charlie narrows his eyes. "They need you. You know they need you."

She stares up at him, stunned. This is not the first time she's heard those words.

"_Play_."

With one finger, she taps out the only tune she remembers.

"_Oh my darlin', oh my darlin'_…"

Someone is singing along. Megan looks up. It's the dark figure standing behind Charlie.

She can hear Aaron, still talking to himself. "The baby, think about the baby."

She keeps playing.

The figure is still singing.

It's Walt.

"_You_ _are lost and gone forever. Oh my darlin'…_"

She hears a splash.

"Charlie?"

She's not playing.

"_Oh my darlin'…"_

Walt's still singing.

"… _Clementine._"

--- * --- * ---

Megan's eye shoots open.

She sits up in bed, running her hands over her swollen stomach.

She's sweating, shaking. Her blond hair is glued to the sides of her face.

The door swings open and she yelps.

It's Walt.

"Megan," he says, sounding groggy, but concerned, "are you all right? I heard you talking in your sleep."

Megan inhales a few times, steadying herself. "Yeah. Just a bad dream. Uh… Walt?"

"Mhmm?"

"What… what exactly was I saying?"

Walt thinks for a moment. "You were singing… you were singing about Clementine," she says with a smile.

Megan pulls her blanket closer around herself.

"It's okay," Walt jokes, "she gives me nightmares, too."

* * *

It's a rainy, overcast day, so a few of them had decided to huddle inside the common room, away from the cold winds and spitting rain on the deck. They were wishing they had a TV to occupy themselves, instead of forcing awkward conversation. Except Walt. He's flipping absently though a comic book, pretending to read.

Julian sits on a little sofa, next to Ji Yeon. He turns to Alice, who's sitting cross legged on a chair nearby. "How much longer before we get there?" he asks.

Alice's face remains passive. "I'm not sure."

Julian sits up a little straighter. "How can you _not be sure_? You do know where we going, don't you?"

Aaron, sitting in a corner across the room, pipes up. "Of course she _knows_," he says, harshly. "Why would she be here if she didn't?"

Julian's eyes narrow, glassy and cold. "I don't remember asking _you, _Littleton."

Alice watches them. If Ji Yeon hadn't known her better, she'd have thought she almost looked amused. But then, Ji Yeon realized, she _didn't_ know Alice… at _all_.

"Sorry," Aaron said, not trying to cover up the sarcasm in his voice, "but you know... stupid questions get stupid answers."

"And I suppose you're just _full_ of those."

"Oh, you're such a – "

Clementine, the last person in the room, rolls her eyes. If no one else was going to put a stop to this childish bickering, she would.

"I'm starving!" she cried, jumping up. "Who wants to make dinner?"

Walt looked up from his comic book, his eyebrow raised. "Uh, Clem? It's 2:30 in the afternoon…"

She shoots him an angry look and looks back to Aaron, who was nearly seething, and to Julian, whose jaw is clenched. "Well, _I'm_ hungry," she said.

"Yeah," Ji Yeon agreed. "Me, too. Let's make dinner."

"Wonderful," she said, though she sounded anything but impressed as she looked at Ji Yeon. "Aaron?" she said, turning to him. "Help me?"

"I'm not hungry," he mumbled.

"I didn't ask you to _eat_, I asked you to help."

Rolling his eyes, Aaron pushes himself out of his chair and follows Clementine out of the common room. Walt can't help but be impressed – Clementine was the only one who could really get Aaron to do anything he didn't want to.

Ji Yeon left next, not bothering to say anything to anyone as she did. Julian watched her go, as if expecting some sort of goodbye.

He glares at Alice for a while, trying to read her. Walt knows he's wasting his time. Eventually, he gives up and leaves, too.

Alone in the room, Walt turns to Alice. "That was mean."

"What was?" she asks, innocently.

"Letting them fight like that. You should have said something."

"Why? It had nothing to do with me."

Walt just sighs. "It's _always_ got something to do with you."

Alice just shifts deeper into her chair. She notices Walt still looking at her. "What?" she asks, almost hotly.

Walt narrows his eyes. "Where is it, Alice?"

The mood in the cramped little room shifts drastically.

She raises an eyebrow.

"I already told Julian that I don't know where the Island – "

"I'm not talking about _the Island_," he hisses. "I serious," he says, leaning forward. "I have a right to know."

"No you don't."

"Alice, where –"

Her usually icy blue eyes are hot and unwelcoming. "_It's safe_," she spits.

"It better be."

* * *

Megan is holding two the bowls of macaroni she was just given by Clementine. She's supposed to give one to Julian, who has locked himself up in his room. She knocks, a little hesitantly. "Hello, hello, hello?"

"Come in," he says, not looking up from a thick book in his lap.

"All right, Julian? Wow," she laughs, "are you _studying_?"

Julian is sitting cross legged on his bed, a heavy book in his lap. He looks up, seeming almost surprised to see her – as if he was excepting someone else. He offers her a chair, which she takes and she hands him his bowl of pasta. He sits on his bed. "I'm studying because I can't fall behind," he explains.

"You're still going to school?"

"No… no, I took a year off for this," he says, sounding disappointed. "But I still want to keep up, you know?"

"I guess. I was never a very good student, though."

"I have to be," he says with a shrug. "I have a lot to live up to."

Megan raises an eyebrow, curious.

"It's just…" He shakes his head, giving her a smile. "Never mind. Don't worry about it." He looks back down into his book, avoiding her eyes.

Megan gives him a nod. She feels bad for Julian; he comes off cold and almost harsh, but she can see now that there's something bothering him, something that must have made him this way.

"It's crazy, isn't it?" he says suddenly.

"What is?"

"All this… and the fact that you and I were dragged into it."

Megan turns and faces him, her hands draped over her stomach. "How do you mean?"

Julian shrugs. "Everyone else is here for their _parents_… we're here for an aunt and an uncle we never knew." He looks back down at his textbook. "I never even _met_ my aunt."

Megan feels like she should say something, cheer him up somehow, but she's not exactly sure what's bringing him down and she doesn't want to pry. She heard about his fight with Aaron, but it's clearly not that that has him shut up in his room.

Instead, she considers what he's said. Maybe the two of them are there for closer reasons then she'd first thought.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" she says, slowly, "it is crazy."

* * *

_There were so many people outside teh church, that Paces had to sneak in through the back. Reporters found them anyway; cameras flashed brilliantly, dizzyingly. Megan's mother scooped her up, and pushed Megan's face into her black dress, hiding her._

_They walked into church._

_Megan, arm firmly around her mother's neck, looked around. It seemed like some sort of party – she was certainly dressed in her nicest clothes – but no one was having fun. _

_Her grandma was holding her dad's hand, as she cried quietly._

_Her father was crying, too._

_That scared Megan more then the cameras and all the people and the fact that everyone had forgotten to feed her breakfast that morning. _

_The family took their seats in the front pew. Her father pulled Megan into his lap and kissed the top of her head. _

_"It's all right, sweetheart. It's all right." _

_Megan looked up at him. "I know, Daddy. It's all right."_

_Her father smiled and hugged her to him. A piano started playing somewhere at the front of the church, a song Megan had heard her father singing a million times before. A man stood up at the front and started singing, slowly, as people took their seats._

_"_Funny now, you finally see me standing here_…"_

_Her father held her to his chest and tried to stifle sobs he hoped she wouldn't hear._

* * *

_For Megan's seventh birthday, her parents got her her own piano._

_She started at it stupidly for a while, wondering where the rest of her presents were._

_"Is it… mine?" she asked, slowly._

_Her father beamed at her. "Yes, Megan! Yes, love, it's all your's. Do you like it?" He sounded so excited, Megan knew she had to lie._

_"Uh, yes. I do. But – er – I don't know how to play."_

_Her mother, Karen, shifted beside her father. "I told you, Liam," she hissed under her breath. "I told you, she doesn't want a piano. She isn't like –"_

_"I'm going to teach you!" her father cried, brightly. "Isn't that wonderful? I'm going to teach you to play piano. You'll love it. I know that when I was young my –"_

_"Megan, would you like to open your aunt's gift now?" Karen interrupted._

_Megan's eyes widened. "Oh, yes!"_

* * *

Ji Yeon had hired an English speaking doctor for Megan. She assured Megan that he was a wonderful doctor, that she'd be in good hands. But she was still nervous about her first check up with him.

Clementine had offered to go with her, but Megan had told her it was okay, she'd be fine. Now, walking up to the door of the infirmary, she wishes she hadn't said that. She'd give anything for someone to be going with her.

She opens to door slowly and sees a man sitting over a few scattered papers.

"Uh… hello," she said, timidly.

The man quickly looks up. "Hello," he said, kindly. He was good-looking, a strong jaw , dark eyes, short dark hair, and Korean like the rest of the crew.

He stacks up his papers. "You must be Megan Pace. I'm Dr. Raymond Su. But feel free to call me Ray," he smiles.

"All right, Dr. Ray." Megan slides up on the table.

" Have you been feeling all right?" he asks, absently, scribbling something down.

"Yup, yup, yup. Very good."

Dr. Ray nods. "Good…" He shuffles through some papers, pulls one out of a pile and places it on his clipboard, turning to her. "All right, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" he says, straightening up. "Just want to get a bit of history."

"Not a problem."

"All right… let's start from the beginning. When did you get pregnant?"

* * *

_"Pregnant? _Pregnant_?" Liam shouted. "But… but how… I don't…" He ran his hands through his thinning hair. "I knew it, Karen!" he cried, suddenly. "I knew it! We shouldn't have let her go; we should never have let her go to America on that ridiculous trip!"_

_Megan sobbed in her parents' living room, her face buried in her hands. Her mother's arms her wrapped lightly over her shoulders in a vain attempt to comfort her. "Liam, please," Karen said. "She's upset."_

"_Of course she's upset! She's pregnant!"_

"_Daddy, I'm sorry… I d-didn't… I-I-I…" She couldn't bring herself to splutter anymore. _

_Karen rubbed Megan's arms as Liam paced around the living room._

"_Who?" he demanded. "Who's the father?"_

_Megan looked up at him, blinking through her tears._

"_Is he coming here?" Liam demanded. "Has he offered to marry you?"_

"M-marry_ me? He doesn't even _know!_"_

_Karen jumped up, knowing her husband too well to let him say anything. "Listen, love," she said quietly to him, "I know how you're feeling, all right? But you can't force your views on her now. She'll just push you away and right now –"_

"_Karen," he hissed, "she's pregnant, she's not married, and the bloke who did it to her is nowhere to been seen! We've raised her better then this, haven't we?"_

_Karen sighed. "I know you've been getting back to church ever since Charlie died, but –"_

_She stopped, mid-sentence. The look her husband gave her was worse then anything he could have said to stop her. Liam looked back at Megan, then to Karen. "Don't tell me this is because of Charlie," he spat._

_Karen looked up at him, sympathetic. "Oh, Liam… it's always because of Charlie, isn't it?"_

"_Excuse me?"_

_Karen backed up a step. "Think about it. Ever since she was young, you've been trying to relive your childhood through her!"_

"_That's mad!"_

"_Liam, you forced her to play the piano for three years! She was terrible! She hated it!"_

"_She –"_

"_You can't fix the past," Karen said softly. "You can't change it."_

"_I'm not trying to!" Liam roared._

_Megan had stopped crying. She looked up at her parents, half amazed, half terrified. For an instant she forgot that she was pregnant – but only an instant._

"_Yes you are!" her mother continued. "You know you did your brother wrong, so every mistake you made with him, you're trying to right through your daughter. But it's not fair, Liam! It's not fair to _her_!" _

_Liam took a step toward her. "I'm just trying to give her the life that me and Charlie never had."_

"_Maybe she doesn't want that life," Karen said, softly. _

_Megan watched her father's face as – she was sure – he remembered her difficult childhood years, her unruly teenage years, and, as she grew, her need to be as far away from her family as possible._

_She jumped back a bit when she saw he was looking at her. "Megan?" he growled, through clenched teeth._

"_Y-yeah, Dad?"_

"_Who is the father?"_

* * *

"Megan? Megan? Did you hear me? I asked you who the father is."

Megan blinks a few times. "Sorry? Sorry, what?"

Ray looked at her from behind his clipboard. "The father? Can you tell me anything about him?"

Megan feels the familiar sinking feeling in her stomach. "The father…? He's not, uh… he's…"

"He's not in the baby's life?" Dr. Ray asks, absently, still flipping through some note. "You're going to raise the baby on your own?"

"Yeah… I know, how _modern_ of me."

Dr. Ray smiles up at her. "I suppose so. I just wanted a bit of family history, but it really doesn't matter."

Megan sighed. That wasn't true – it did matter.

"He's an American, if that helps," she shrugs. "I met him on a trip there. His name was, uh, David Smith."

Dr. Ray nods, still writing notes.

Megan goes on. She knows it isn't important information, but it's nice to talk about it. She's never really talked about it before. "His mother was on the same plane," she says. Dr Ray looks up. "The same plane as my uncle."

"Oceanic 815?" he asks, now interested.

"Yeah. That's sort of how we started talking. See, my uncle and his mother were two of the three passengers who survived the crash, but died before the Oceanic Six were rescued."

The doctor looks confused. "But he's not here. I thought Miss Paik got everyone who was related…" He trails off, confused.

Megan shrugs. "Maybe Walt couldn't convince him. Maybe he couldn't find him. There are tons of people related to the people who were on that plane. But I guess we were all he could get."

"What was his mother's name?" asks Dr. Ray. "The baby's father, who was his mother?"

Megan looks over at him. "Libby," she says, simply.

* * *

Aaron knocks on Charlie's door, hoping to hide out there for a while. Clementine still isn't impressed with his outburst, Ji Yeon is no where to be found, Megan's with the doctor, Walt and Alice are talking about something he's clearly not supposed to know about, and the _last_ thing he wants is to be stuck in the common room with Julian.

"Come in."

Aaron pushes the door open. "Hiya, mate."

"Oh, hiya Aaron!" Charlie smiles. He slips a book mark between the pages of the book he's reading and sets it aside.

"Mind if I bother yah awhile?" Aaron asks. "I don't want to just sit in my room and it's still rainy on deck."

"Sure! Grab a seat. You look down. What's wrong?"

Aaron shrugs, flopping down on the foot of Charlie's bed. "Had a bit of a fight with Carlson. Just got me a bit riled up. Now Clementine's telling me I'm being a child…" Aaron forces a smile. "I've already had two mothers… does she think I need another?"

Charlie smiles, too. "I expect you two were fighting over Ji Yeon, then?"

Aaron's brows come together, confused. "Why would we…?"

"Don't you both fancy her?"

"I don't _fancy_ Ji Yeon."

"Oh," says Charlie, rolling his eyes. "_Right_."

Aaron, desperate for a change of subject, looks at the book next to Charlie. He raises an eyebrow. "_Harry Potter_? Really, Charlie? How old are you?"

Charlie laughs, picking up his worn copy of _Chamber of Secrets_. "People in glass houses, Aaron. I'm not the one picking fights over girls."

"I was not – !"

"Sure, sure."

Aaron crosses his arms and huffs. "I don't care… that guy's a real prat."

"Yeah…" says Charlie, thoughtfully. "He'd definitely be a Slytherin."

"What _the hell_ are you talking about?"

"Never mind."

* * *

"_Megan… Megan…"_

_She was in a house she doesn't recognize. She was scared. _

"_Who's there?" she called, turning her head, scanning the room. A man in a hood stepped out of the shadows._

"_Megan…"_

"_Wh-who are you? Go away. Leave me alone."_

_The man shook his head. "They need you Megan…"_

_Megan felt the panic grow inside her. This wasn't right; this wasn't normal. "What are you talking about?"_

_The man took a step forward. "Don't you know yet?"_

_She just shook her head, her hands folded protectively over her stomach. The man notices. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, sounding almost hurt that she would have thought he might. "And don't worry," he added, "he'll come around."_

"_Wh-who?" She still looked around the room, trying to find a door or window to escape out of._

"_Your dad. Trust me."_

_She narrowed her eyes, trying to see the man through the dark. "Who _are_ you?" _

"_Don't you know?"_

_She shook her head._

_The man looked at her for a while, thoughtfully. "You look like her, you know."_

"_Who?" Megan demanded._

_The man didn't say anything. He stood there, half cast in shadows, deep in thought about another pregnant blond woman he'd known so long ago._

_Megan grew impatient. "What do you want with me? I want to go, I want – "_

"_Listen to him," the man said, suddenly._

"_Who? My dad? How –"_

"_No, not your dad. You'll know. When he comes for you. Listen to him."_

"_But – "_

"_Just remember – they need you."_

"_Who needs me? I don't understand. Listen to _who_? _Who_ needs me?"_

_Megan tried to step toward the man, but she slipped. She fell backwards, through a liquid sleep and landed in her bed. She sat up and looked around, panting. _

_That had been the first time Charlie Pace has visited her in her dreams._

* * *

"How'd it go?" Aaron asks, as Megan walks into the common room. Aaron, Clementine and Walt are sitting there.

She smiles at them. "Good, good, good. Very healthy."

Walt and Clementine smile back up at her, and Aaron looks relieved. Megan knows he's worried about her and the baby – for some reason it makes her feel better to see him feel better.

She takes a seat with them and smiles comfortably, folding her hands over her belly.

"It's gotta be pretty scary, eh?" Aaron said, softly.

Clementine shot him an _I told you not to push it _look that Megan tactfully chooses to ignore.

"It is," Megan answers.

Walt just nods at her slowly. "You remember what I said, right?"

She nods, giving him a little smile. "I still don't entirely believe you."

"Well, you will," he assures her. "Just wait. I promise everything'll be okay."

"How can you promise that?" Aaron snaps.

"Aaron, for _once_, can you just keep your thoughts in your head?" Clementine sighs heavily, annoyed.

Megan isn't really listening. She's thinking about rain and dreams and miracles and tea.

* * *

The rain had let up, and Ji Yeon took the opportunity to walk out onto the deck. The sun sets brilliantly over the water and for a while all she can do is look out at the breath taking scene in front of her, letting the wind weave through her hair, her eyes stinging from the salt.

She answers a few questions from the crew in hurried Korean, and then looks out over the water.

She'd kill for a cigarette.

She can't help but think that maybe she hadn't planned this trip as well she she'd thought. It had only been two weeks and already talking to the same seven people each day was driving her mad. They were all too close for too long – it would only be a matter of time before one of them snapped.

She can't help but think it would probably be her fault if one of them does.

Annoyed with herself, she tries to push two blond boys out of her head and wonders if she really could change after all, or she was destined to be girl who charmed, seduced, and tricked the world without ever really feeling anything for anyone.

(It's terrifying, feeling all the things she is.)

If only she could get off this damned boat for a while.

* * *

_It was raining heavily._

_She had only agreed him to meet him at the little tea shop because the dreams had gotten so bad she could hardly sleep anymore. It wasn't healthy for the baby._

_(And it was terrifying.)_

_The man was a few minutes late. Stepping in the shop, he seemed flustered, trying to brush water off his drenched shoulders and hood. He had no trouble spotting her – how could he? "Just look for the pregnant girl," she'd said over the phone._

_He sat across from her. "Megan Pace?"_

_She nodded, not knowing what to say._

"_I'm Walt Lloyd. We spoke on the phone."_

"_Yes, yes, I remember."_

"_Good," he nodded. The waitress came over then. He ordered coffee. Megan noticed how tiered he looked. He had told her he'd been traveling a lot. She wondered just how much 'a lot' was._

"_So," she said, "what is it you've got to tell me? What's so bloody important that – "_

"_I know how it sounds," Walt said, lowering his head a little. She could tell he'd been through this before. "And, trust me; it's only about to sound odder. But," he looked back up at her, brown eyes shining with sincerity and something else, something terrifyingly close to desperation. "But I need to know you're going to hear me out, all right?"_

Listen to him _a voice – Charlie's voice – in the back of her mind told her._

_She looked at him for a while, then nodded. "Fine. Just tell me."_

_Walt leaned forward over the table. "You know all about the Oceanic Six, right? You know their story about what happened to them – including what happened to your uncle – and you know that sixteen years ago, they all vanished again?"_

_Megan swallowed hard and nodded._

"_Well… it's all lies."_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_All of it. They lied about everything."_

_Megan leaned back in her chair. "That's mad," she said, dismissively. "Why would they lie? And… and how would _you_ know? Why do you – "_

"_I was there," Walt said, simply._

_Megan lowered her voice a little. "_There_? You mean…"_

"_I was on Fligth 815. I was on that Island."_

_She forced a disbelieving smile onto her lips. "No, that's mental. The Six were the only survivors. Where were you when they all came home?"_

"_I came back earlier. But we don't have time to talk about that now."_

_The waitress came back and handed Walt his coffee. "Thanks," he mumbled. He waited until she was gone before looking back at Megan. "Look, I'm going to make this short and sweet, because I'm sure I've wasted enough of your time already."_

_Megan said nothing at this._

"_We have to go back."_

"_Back? But you said we didn't have much time, so why do you want to go– "_

"_No. I mean back _there_. I need to take you to the Island."_

_Megan felt her mouth fall open stupidly. "You want me to go to a _deserted Island_ with you?"_

"_Yes. There will be others, as well. As many as I can convince."_

"_But why?"_

_Walt sighed. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be as close as we can make it, or the results will be… unpredictable."_

"_I'm sorry… what?"_

_Walt shook his head. "I don't completely understand it, either. But Alice does."_

"_Alice?"_

"_You'll meet her later."_

_Megan wrinkled her nose a bit. "Sorry, Mr. Lloyd, but I don't think I will."_

_Walt seemed to have been expecting this._

"_Please, Miss Pace, I know how this sounds… but you need to believe me. The Oceanic Six and many other people are still on the Island. We need to go back – we need to save them."_

"_But why _us_?"_

"_Like I said, it has to be as close as possible to the first time, to Flight 815, or it might not work."_

"_And… you want me because… I'm… like my uncle?" she said slowly, disbelieving._

"_Yes. And other reasons."_

_Megan must have looked at him like he was insane, because Walt leaned forward and said, "please, Miss Pace. I do realize how it sounds, honestly. But please listen to me. It needs to be this way. They need you."_

They need you.

_Megan tried not to visibly shudder. "B-but… what about the baby? I mean, I can't exactly…"_

_Walt shook his head. "You and your baby will be fine. There'll be a wonderful doctor on the ship we're taking, and nurses. And there's a hospital on the Island."_

"_Really? But I thought the Oceanic Six said that Island was – "_

"_They lied."_

"_Oh. Right."_

_He suddenly took her hand in his. She didn't pull away. "Nothing is going to happen to you there, Megan."_

"_How can you be sure?" she asked in a small voice. As she slowly started to accept the weight and danger of just what she was – almost – agreeing to, the more the fear began to creep in._

"_Because," Walt began, slowly, "that place… it's not just an island… it's a place where miracles happen."_

_"There's no such thing as miricles," she said, softly._

_Walt just smiles at her. "We both know you don't believe that. There are miracles all the time."_

_Megan looked confused, but curious._

_He kept smiling, knowing he'd hooked her. "If things ever look dark, you just remember that, all right?"_

_She nodded. "Right... _Miracles_."_


	6. An Open And Shut Case

**Chapter Five: _An Open and Shut Case_**

"_My whole life all I ever wanted was to have a baby. And now because of you I can." - Rachel, "Not In Portland", season three._

Julian finds her first, sitting alone at the kitchen table, a chrome case sitting on the table in front of her. Her hands are folded neatly in front of it.

Already he knows this won't end well.

"Hello, Alice," he says, taking a seat across from her.

"Hello."

"What's in the case?"

Alice stares back at him, blue eyes characteristically blank. "I'm going to tell everyone at dinner."

"Oh." Julian thinks a moment. "Can't you just tell me now?"

Alice seems to consider this. "You're very smart, aren't you, Julian?"

He's taken back. "Uh… yeah. I was the top of my class when – "

"And you keep a fairly clear head… most of the time," she adds. He knows she's thinking about the many times he's found a reason to snap at Aaron and suddenly, under her scrutinizing stare, it all seems very childish.

"Yes. Yes, I think most of the time I keep a clear head."

She nods. "Good. I'm glad that you came in first. You see, Julian, I need your help."

He pauses. He isn't quite sure why, but he's suddenly very worried that just by walking into the kitchen he's gotten himself into something he won't be able to get out of.

And since when did _Alice_ need help with anything?

"With what?" he manages to say, keeping his voice just as cool and even as her's.

"With this," she says. She unlocks the cases with a little silver key, opens the heavy lid and turns it, showing Julian what was locked inside.

He doesn't bother to hide the shock in his voice now. "What are you _doing_ with those? Why are the here?"

Alice, in complete contrast, is still very calm. "Please, Julian, don't make up your mind before I explain."

"Explain, then!"

"We're going to need what I've got. You know it, I know it. Even as much as we may not want it. Think about where we're going – about what we're doing. Now tell me I'm making a mistake."

Julian stared down into the case. She had a point.

"You can… use one? Properly?"

"Yes. I'll teach everyone. Safety will be my top priority."

Julian gave a little snort.

Alice quickly locked the case back up. She leaned forward, red curls falling over her shoulders. "I need you to act like you have no idea what's in here. I need you to lie."

Julian narrows his eyes. "Why?"

"Because, when I show everyone what I have, I need _you_ to back me up. I need you to explain that this is a good idea."

There are a million questions buzzing around his head, but he asks the first one that manages to make its way past his lips. "Why me?"

"Like I said – you're smart, you have a clear head. They'll trust you."

Julian leans back in his seat, crossing his arms. "Doubt it. I'm not exactly… the most liked person here," he explains.

"This has nothing to do with being liked. You know this is a good idea, but you also know that everyone else will react just like you did. There are a few people on board who fancy themselves heroes, and they'll take much more convincing then you did."

Julian raises an eyebrow, unconvinced. "I doubt those _heroes_ will care at all what _I_ think."

"Julian," Alice says, warningly. "Are you with me?"

He sighs heavily, not taking his eyes away from the case.

"Yeah… yeah, I'll do it."

* * *

_Julian stacked blocks on the kitchen floor. His mother stood looking out the back window, the phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder._

_"Yes, Mom. Yes, I know." Rachel sighed, running her hand through her hair. "No, I don't know. No one's called, no one's written…"_

_Julian bent over his blocks, pretending not to listen. He was never very good with blocks (they never looked like the pictures on the box), but he wanted some excuse to stay in the kitchen and listen._

_He may have only been five years old, but that didn't mean he wasn't smart enough to know when something was wrong._

_Rachel sniffs loudly. "Yeah, b-but you'd think they w-would have told us i-if…" he voices trailed off. "I just don't know, Mom, it doesn't make any sense."_

_Julian stacked a black block over another white one and looked at his tower. It was awful. He knocked it down and started again._

_"But she wouldn't do this, not if she could help it! She wouldn't… she wouldn't just disappear…"_

_The back of Julian's neck burned as he heard his mother start to sob softly into the phone. He wished he hadn't chosen_ this _conversation to eavesdrop on. He was wondering if he would be able to sneak away without drawing attention to himself, when he heard Rachel hang up the phone._

_"Julian," she sighed, wiping her eyes, walking over to him. She smiled as she scooped him up and kissed his cheek._

_"Don't cry, Mommy," he muttered, hugging her neck. He knew he was no good at comforting people – already it was difficult for him – but for his mother, he would try. "It's all right. We can go to the park later. And I have five dollars for ice cream, remember?"_

_Rachel looked at him and smiled, hugging him hard._

_He felt a little surge of pride – he had made her feel better._

_But it fell away as soon as it had swelled up. _

_"Oh Julian… you look just like her," she said, sill smiling. "The same eyes. Just the same."_

_Julian's face fell. He knew from that moment on that he would never be any real comfort to his mother, he'd never be able to help her. She'd only ever smile at him, she'd only ever feel better, because he looked like her._

_Like the woman who had disappeared so long ago and never came back._

_It was then that he first realized just how much he hated his Aunt Juliet._

_"I'm sorry," she murmured into his hair. "I'm sorry…"_

_"Why, Mom?"_

_Rachel just shook her head, still holding him. "Sorry, baby," she whispered._

* * *

Slowly, everyone else had their way to the kitchen. Charlie and Aaron walk in, laughing about something. "I'm starving," Charlie says, as he and Aaron sit down.

Clementine is right behind them. She spots the case right away. She doesn't smile. "What's that?" she demands.

Alice ignores her tone. "I'll explain one everyone is here."

Julian suddenly feels guilty. He knows and no one else does – it's like a secret he's not supposed to have.

And it only separates him even further from everyone else.

Megan walks in next, and takes her seat. She seems to feel the weight of the situation, even if she doesn't understand it, because even she doesn't seem very cheerful.

After a few tense minutes (Charlie has stopped smiling and Aaron and Clementine are shooting each other looks), Ji Yeon walks in. She tries to ignore the case on the table and the fact that no one is speaking. She sets her pretty face into a neutral expression and waits for the shit to hit the fan – by now, they all know it's inevitable.

Then Walt walks in.

He sees everyone sitting around the table and he finds Alice, then the case. His eyes widen, almost comically.

"Alice, no. Is that? – "

"No, it's not," Alice says, simply.

"Then it's – ?"

"Yes."

Walt takes a seat as well, looking angry, but much less scared.

Julian burns with curiosity. What had Walt _thought_ was in the case? But he's also a little more at ease. Clearly, Walt knows what's in the case, as well.

There are a few more silent moments.

Clementine's had enough. "Well, are you going to explain or should we all have a guess as to what you've got there?"

"I hope it's chicken," Charlie mutters. "And maybe mashed potatoes. And gravy."

"It's not," Alice says, a little sharply. This is clearly no time to joke.

"Then what is it?" Aaron demands.

"As you know," Alice begins, ignoring Aaron, "we are going to a nearly-deserted island. I say 'nearly' because there _are_ people who inhabit it – including," she says meaningfully, "the people we are going to rescue."

"_Including_?" Clementine repeats. "You mean… there are more then just them?"

Alice turns to Walt and waits for him to answer.

Walt is quiet for a moment. "Yeah," he says, softly. "Yeah, there are Others." He lowers his head a bit. He hates talking about his time on the Island.

Alice's brown eyes don't leave him. "And can you tell us about them? Tell them why we might need – "

Walt scowls. "Can we get on with it, Alice?"

"I just want them to know. You're the only one who can tell them about –"

"I'm not going to, so just –"

"Walt," Alice says, her voice hardly changing at all, although Walt is getting angrier and angrier. "We need them to understand the reality of the situation that we're getting ourselves into if we –"

"Drop it, Alice," Clementine spits. "Just open the damn case."

Alice glares at her for a moment. "Don't been too keen to rush into things, Philips," she warns. "Situations like this need to be planned out very carefully. We can't be rash."

"Just open it."

To everyone's surprise, Alice simply shrugs. "Fine."

And she clicks open the case.

Megan gasps.

Charlie looks like he's just been slapped.

Walt puts his head in his hands.

Aaron jumps up. "No!" he cries. "Are you mad? No way… no way."

Alice shoots Julian a discrete look that clearly says: _hero._

* * *

_Julian laid sprawled out on the sofa in front of the television, absently flicking through the channels._

_Rachel walked into the living room from the kitchen, still drying a cup with a dishcloth. "Ju, what are you doing?"_

_"Nothing," he answered, yawning._

_Rachel pursed her lips. "How do you expect to get into medical school by doing 'nothing'?"_

_"Mom, that's _years_ away," he rationalizes, not taking his eyes from the tv. _

_"But didn't you say you had a history test in a few days?"_

_"And what's history got to do with being a doctor?"_

_She sets the dish down on a table and sits down next to him, flicking off the tv. "It's not just history, it's everything, Jule."_

_He hated when he called him that – it was what she had called her sister._

_"You need good grades. You need _great_ grades. Don't you see how important all that is?"_

_"No." _

_Rachel hugged her son to her. "I just want a wonderful life for you, Jule. I just want the best for you. You know that, right?"_

_"Yes," he sighed._

_She kissed the top of his head. "Good boy. Now, go study a bit, then I'll test you, all right?"_

_Julian dragged himself to his feet and shuffled toward his room._

_"And Jule?"_

_"Yeah, Mom?"_

_"You know I love you, right?"_

_"I know."_

_But, as he made his way into his room, he couldn't help but feel she didn't love _him_, she loved the person she was molding him into._

_She loved Juliet._

* * *

Guns.

There are five guns sitting in the bottom of the case that Alice held open for everyone.

Ji Yeon leans over and looks into the case, as if trying to force herself to believe it. "Why would we need _those_?" she asks, doing her best not to stammer.

Julian leans forward, too. His heart speeds up a bit. They were _guns,_ after all. "There are only five," he says stupidly. "There are eight of us."

Alice nods, locking the case back up. "Yes. Three of us will be unarmed at a time, but I think five will be more then enough."

Aaron shakes his head. "No! We're going to end up shooting each _other_, not… who ever else is out there! None of us even know _how_ to use a gun."

"I believe Clementine and I do," Alice says, calmly.

Clementine sighs. "That doesn't mean I'm about to teach a bunch of kids and a pregnant girl how to use them."

"Walt, would you like to enlighten Clementine as to what happened to the last pregnant girl on the Island?"

Walt scowls and says nothing.

Clementine ignores her. "Listen Alice, I just don't think that it's very smart handing out guns, like, like… like candy to a bunch of trick-or-treaters!"

Alice almost manages to look offended. "Rest assured, Clementine. I've thought this through."

"You're going to put _guns_ in untrained hands!" Aaron starts up again. It seems like nothing else that had ever happened, or would ever happen again, was quite as terrible as what Alice was suggesting. "We'll al be dead by Tuesday!"

"Don't say that," mutters Charlie.

"Like I've said," Alice responds, "I know what I'm doing. And I am not about to let any of you walk onto that Island without some kind of protection. We don't know what these people are like. They won't know who we are or why we're there. We don't know how they are going to react," she says slowly.

Megan shakes her head slowly. "I don't know, Alice… it seems…"

"I know how it seems," Alice says, sounding nearly like she understood where Megan was coming from, "but I also know how it _is_."

She turns to Julian. "What do you think?"

Julian feels all the blood drain from his face. He steadies himself a bit. "It's brilliant," he says, finally. "A good idea."

Aaron, who is still standing, takes a step toward him. "Are you kidding me? You really think –"

"Listen, Littleton," Julian snaps, "if you want to go skipping onto some Island filled with dangerous, armed people, expecting _Mommy_ to welcome you with open – "

He never manages to finish his sentence because Aaron lunges at him. Megan gives a little shriek and Walt is on his feet in seconds, his strong, thick arms pinning Aaron's to his sides.

"Aaron!" Clementine cries, angry. "Are you insane?"

"Say it again!" Aaron shouts, struggling against Walt. "Say it again, you dirty piece of –"

"_That's enough_."

Everyone turns to see where the suddenly commanding voice came from.

Jaws drop open when they see Ji Yeon standing up, fists clenched at her sides.

"This is getting us _nowhere_," she continues. "We can fight and yell and try to beat each other up, _or_ we can sit down and _figure this out_."

"Never thought I'd say this," says Clementine, "but I'm with Ji Yeon."

Aaron shrugs Walt off of him. "Fine, then. Fine, lets 'figure this out'. Let's see, we pass out guns, start teaching people to shoot – keeping in mind the _teachers_ aren't exactly professionals – and then start firing at random on deck, maybe hitting a couple birds, maybe hitting a couple crew members... Yeah, sounds like a plan."

Julian can't help but be impressed by his unwavering anger. Impressed and annoyed.

"That's one side," Alice says coolly. "Anyone else care to give another point of view?"

"Like I said," Julian says silkily, leaning back in his seat, "we can skip off the boat and wait for our welcome party… or we can think logically and realize that these people are probably savages who've been living in the wild for nearly two decades – some of them probably longer."

Alice turns to Walt again. "Walt, would you ever go back to the Island unarmed?"

Walt swallows. "No."

"So you _want_ a gun?" Aaron says, raising his eyebrows.

"No. Don't need one. I've got knives."

Clementine shot him a wildly confused look. "Knives?"

"Hunting knives. I've learned how to use them. They can be weapons, if need be."

Alice looks around the rest of the table. "Walt may have knives, but we don't. What does everyone else think?"

Charlie looks down at his hands. "No one ever said we'd be _shooting_ people. No one said anyone would get _hurt_."

Alice's face finally softens, her voice a little softer. "These guns are only a precaution. A very, _very_ last resort. We don't want to hurt anyone."

Clementine sighs. "It's starting to make sense," she admits.

Alice nods. "I thought it might."

"Ask Ji Yeon," Aaron pipes up suddenly. "It's her boat."

Ji Yeon straightens up in her seat a bit, looking as if she's back in front of the press at some sort of function, ready to take their questions. "I can see both sides," she begins, tactfully, "and I respect both views."

"Oh, _get on with it_," Clementine snarls.

Ji Yeon shoots her a subtle dirty look that only Aaron catches. "I think we should use them. But we need to take every precaution, all right? Rope off areas where we want to practice, make sure everyone is accounted for at all times so no one sneaks up on anyone…"

Alice nods. "I'll sort it all out."

After a few more minutes of conversation and planning, it was decided that the lessons would start the next day. Then dinner was served and Julian was left to sink back into his thoughts, pushing his peas around on his plate.

He couldn't help but wonder how yelling at people had become so easy for him.

* * *

_"I don't want to go!" Julian cried._

_"It's a fantastic school, Jule! And you've been accepted! Why on Earth would you want to throw this opportunity away?"_

_Rachel stood across the living room, yelling at her son._

_Julian clenched his jaw. "Listen Mom, why would I do something that makes me unhappy?"_

_"It won't make you unhappy!" Rachel cried._

_"And how would _you_ know? How could you know that better then _me_?"_

_Rachel takes a step forward. "I just want the best for you, Jule. Can't you see that? Everything I've ever done has been to make sure…" Her voice trails off as she sees the anger and something else (something she was terrified was sadness) on his face._

_"You want me to be her, Mom," he says shakily. _

_"What… I don't –"_

_"You're trying to make me into her, but I'm not."_

_Rachel closes her eyes, trying to hold back tears that stung her eyes. She doesn't need to ask what he means._

_"I've never been good enough on my own," he continues. "It doesn't matter how well I did, I was never as good as her – as _Juliet_."_

_"I didn't…"_

_"You _used_ me, Mom!" He cried, suddenly. "You used me to replace her! You didn't need to mourn _her_ if you had _me_!" He felt his throat tightening, as much as he willed it not to. "That's why you're sorry!"_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"You always told me you were sorry!" he cried, realizing how childish it was to shout, and not caring. "When I was a kid – you always told me you were _sorry_. You're sorry because you knew that you'd never love _me_." He lowered his voice until it was just above a harsh whisper. "Everyone always told me how lucky I was to have a mother like you – who'd do anything and everything for me, he gave me more then I wanted. Not as wonderful as it seems," he muttered darkly. He looked up at his mother, terrified at what her reaction would be, but too curious not to see._

_But Rachel was suddenly furious. "You could try being a little more grateful! You're only _here_ because of her!"_

_Julian felt his throat tighten again. He hated fighting with his mother, but what he hated even more was the fact that she wasn't denying it anymore. It was all true, everything he had tried to ignore for the past eighteen years. _

_He hung his head. "I'm never going to make you happy, am I?"_

_"Don't twist what I'm saying."_

_"Do you want me to go to that damn school?"_

_"Yes. I don't want you to be disappointed later if you didn't – "_

_"_Fine_," he spat, "I'll go. But don't act like _I'm_ the one who would be disappointed if I didn't."_

* * *

_I was easy for him to say yes to Walt. He had been so consumed with school that he really didn't have any atachments, no one to miss. He went because finding his aunt would make his mother happy. He went because finding his aunt would make him free._

* * *

Walt sits out on the deck as the sun sets. It's very pretty.

His sketch pad is laid out over his lap, his pencils scattered around him as he tries to find just the right one to capture the scene in front of him.

Aaron and Megan talk over near the opposite railing, as Ji Yeon wanders from crew member to crew member, no doubt explaining about the gun-lessons that would be happening the next day.

He flips absently through the few drawings he's managed to complete so far. He knows he's not great, but he likes to draw anyhow.

"She's _such_ a princess, isn't she?"

A little startled, Walt looks up as Clementine sits down next to him. He's surprised – but happy. Clementine narrows her eyes and watches Ji Yeon float around the deck, the red light behind her nearly making her glow.

"Be nice," he says, grinning at her. "She's young and rich… what do you expect?"

Clementine ignores him. "This boat could sink and sometime between gathering all the golden bricks she's got stashed away and making sure one of her two boyfriends saves her a seat on the lifeboat, she'd find time to give herself a pedicure."

"Well… she's here, isn't she?" Walt says, trying not to smile at just how Clementine exaggeratedly narrows her eyes at Ji Yeon. "And she's paying for everything. That's gotta count for something."

"Not much. She's just an insecure little girl here to try and fix all her daddy-issues."

"Takes one to know one."

Clementine glares at him. "Oh… go… read your stupid comic book… or something."

Walt laughs. "Good one."

Clementine rolls her eyes, but smiles. She notices his sketch book. "You an artist?" she asks, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Er – no, no," he mumbles, hastily shoving the book away from her. "No. I'm not."

"That's sure not what it looks like. Let me see."

"_No_."

Clementine's smile fades. "Fine. Sorry. I forgot how sensitive artists can be."

Walt ignores her, looking again over the deck. Finally, he says, "so, does this mean you don't hate me anymore?"

"Huh?"

Walt looks back at her (and when he does, he nearly forgets he'd been angry – he nearly forgets everything) and gives her a little, lop-sided grin. "Don't play dumb. You couldn't stand me."

Clementine pretends to sigh. "Yes, well. Maybe being stuck on this boat has finally driven me crazy."

Walt laughs. So does she.

But her smile fades. "Seriously, Walt… do you think we should have let _her_ make the decision about the guns?"

"But you wanted to use them, remember?"

"I know," she admits, "but… I mean, shouldn't we have thought it through a bit more? She just…"

"You underestimate her," Walt says.

Clementine shrugs. "Maybe." She turns to him. "So… that was a really nice chat, right?"

"Yeah… I guess so," he says, confused.

"We're pretty close now, would you say?"

"Sure…"

She grins mischievously. "The, can I see your pictures now?"

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear," Walt says, "no one will ever see that book, okay? Not even you, no matter how many 'really nice chats' we have."

But Clementine looks pleased with herself. "I've learned to never say never, Artist." She points over into the sky where the sun finally sinks behind the horizon, looking as if it had been swallowed up by the ocean.

It takes a while for Walt to understand what she was getting at, but then it hit him. He looked over at her and smiles before they both break down into (very childish) fits of laughter.

* * *

"I wanted to thank you for helping me today," Alice says, stepping into Julian's room.

He looks up from his text book. "Oh, no problem. Sorry I kind of… lost my cool." He rubs his eyes and looks down at his watch. It's one thirty in the morning.

She shrugs, still lurking in the doorway. "It happens to the best of us."

"I suppose it does," he says absently, turning back to his book.

Alice looks back at him for a while, not moving.

"What?" he finally asks, a bit irritated.

"Nothing," she answers, flipping a lock of red hair out of her eyes. She stares at him a little longer, making him uncomfortable.

He swallows.

"I don't feel bad about it," she says suddenly. "You're a strong guy. I knew you could take it."

Julian shuts his text book, eyeing Alice closely. "Take it?"

"I'm sorry. But I'd do it again."

He still looks confused.

For a moment, Julian thought he could see something almost like sadness on her face. Her blue eyes were suddenly not cold and distant, but glassy and far-off. But as quick as it had come, the look left and she steels herself once again.

"Thanks again, Julian," she says curtly, turning on her heal and leaving, shutting the door behind her.

Sighing, Julian tosses his book onto the floor and lies back on the bed, one arm folded behind his head, the other draped over his stomach. "She's _sorry_?" he repeats to himself.

Then it hits him.

Alice knew he wouldn't keep a cool head at all.

She knew what Aaron would say about the guns; she knew that Julian would contradict him, not matter what he actually thought; knew that it had to be him because everyone would believe the _smart_ one.

He clenches his jaw. She used him.

And he had let himself be used. _Again_.

Flipping over onto his stomach, he punches his pillow. It wasn't nearly satisfying enough, so he turns and punches the wall.

Hard.

His hand hurts.

He curses under his breath and lies back down, holding his throbbing hand. He stares at the ceiling for a while, the boat rocking gently and feeling his stomach churning uncomfortably.

And, in a moment of what he later could have only described as insanity (or sleep depravation), he smiles. Smiles at the whole situation: his hand, his text book on the ground, the way he'd insulted Aaron, the fact that she was _sorry_.

"Story of my frickin' life."

* * *

Megan is the first one up the next morning. Aaron finds her on the deck, huddled under a blanket.

"Fancy breakfast?" he asks.

She just smiles and shakes her head. "No thanks. I'm not hungry."

Aaron looks worried. "You all right? You look exhausted."

Megan shrugs. "It's just hard for me to get to sleep on a boat," she lies.

Aaron isn't convinced, but he doesn't press it. Nightmares used to keep him up, too.

Megan gasps so suddenly that Aaron nearly jumps. He grabs her shoulders and looks around them. "What?" he asks, eyes still moving around the deck wildly. "What is it?"

Megan doesn't answer. Instead, she points ahead of her, over the water, her other hand over her mouth, her eyes wide.

The Island loomed in front of them, a tiny black dot on the edge of a sea of blue.

Aaron looks. "Bloody hell."


	7. The Sinking of the White Rabbit

**Chapter Six: _The Sinking of the White Rabbit_**

_"Boone made it fall. Then he died. A sacrifice that the island demanded." - Locke, "?", season two_

Alice and Clementine decided to train them one at a time in a roped off section near the front of the deck. They posted a sign, in English and Korean, explaining what was going on – like anyone would forget.

Clementine quickly loads her gun and hands Alice one, as Aaron walks up, hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie, his blond hair moving in the light wind. Dark clouds make the morning seem gray and gloomy – it's going to rain soon.

"Where'd you learn to use one?" Clementine asks.

Alice shrugs. "I took a few lessons a little while back. Aaron, come here. We're ready."

Clementine notices how she uses Aaron to take her mind off the question. It works.

Aaron walks up, looking sulky.

(It's got nothing to do with the guns, Clementine knows. Just down the deck, Julian and Ji Yeon are packing up the lifeboat together.)

Alice hands him a shining, gray gun. "You want to do this?"

He nods. "I may as well."

"All right then. It's simple enough – this is a Glock G21."

"A _what_?"

"It doesn't matter. There's the target." She points over to a piece of cardboard they've painted red. It's across from them, so Aaron has to shoot toward the water. "Just point and shoot. The kickback shouldn't be too bad."

Aaron glances over at Clementine. For a second she sees the little boy with big blue eyes she remembers so well from her childhood. She knows he's scared – he puts up a tough front, but he doesn't want to hurt anyone.

She's sure he's never seen a real gun, let alone held one (let alone been expected to shoot it).

She nods at him. _It's okay. You can do this._

He gives her a nod back, then turns to the target. "Just pull the trigger?"

"Yes."

"_Firing_!" Clementine yells.

Aaron steels himself, inhales, and shoots. There's a sudden burst of sound and even Clementine shuts her eyes against it.

He misses miserably.

Clementine pats him on the back. "That was… awful. Just awful."

Aaron grins. "You can't even fake a little encouragement?"

"Not if you shoot like _that_."

"Again," Alice demands.

Aaron shoots.

"Closer," Alice observes.

Clementine hears someone approaching and turns. It's Walt. "Don't shoot again," she tells Aaron. "Walt's coming."

"What," Aaron says, "you think I'm so bad I'm going to shoot someone _behind_ me?"

"Wouldn't put it past you."

But she knows Aaron. He acts first, thinks later. The last thing she needed was for him to hear someone, get scared, turn and shoot him. Unlikely, but… still.

"Walt," she says, "something we can do for you?"

He shakes him head. "Just came to watch. That all right?" He looks from Alice to Clementine.

Alice shrugs. "Just stay out of the way."

Clementine puts her hand on her hip, the other holding up her handgun. "You sure about this, Mr. My-Knives-Are-Better-Then-Your-Guns? Aren't you a bit scared of these?"

"With _you_ waving one around?" He flashes her a smile she'll never admit gets to her the way it does. "Not nearly as scared as I should be."

She smiles, too.

Aaron goes back to practicing, but Clementine notices Walt isn't paying any attention. His eyes are fixed on the tiny dot of an island rapidly approaching.

* * *

Ji Yeon sighs, surveying their work. "We can fit more stuff. This lifeboat is built for at least twenty people. There's only going to be eight of us."

Julian sits down on top of a plastic bin filled with canned foods, cooking supplies, scissors, rope, and who knows what else. "So, tell me again why your crew isn't going?"

Ji Yeon casts a dark glance over the water, toward the horizon. "They think the Island's cursed. They won't go anywhere near it."

"That's ridiculous."

She looks back at him. "Can you blame them?"

Julian doesn't answer. Even he has to admit he can't.

Megan walks up and tosses a bag into the boat. "You know," she says, sighing, "I don't see why we have to have all our stuff packed _now_. We're going to be on this stupid boat – no offence, Ji – "

"None taken."

" – for a few more days, right? So why are we getting everything together _now_?"

Ji Yeon shrugs. "Alice wants us to. I see her point, though. We might get there sooner then we think. Besides, better to have everything ready. We want to be able to leave at the perfect time, when the weather and sea are just right."

Julian scoffs. "What _I_ don't understand is why we can't just _stay on the boat_ until we get there. Why do we have to taxi there in the lifeboat?"

Ji Yeon leans against the railing. "The crew won't get too close. They think that there's something about this place, something that makes it so no one can get too close, and if you do…"

"What?" Megan asks, clearly more then a bit afraid.

Ji Yeon shrugs. "I don't know."

"Well, I think it's stupid. And bunch of urban legends –" But Julian is cut off.

Charlie rushes up, red in the face, panting with effort as he heaves a bag into the lifeboat.

"Charlie!" Megan laughs. "What on _Earth_ is in there?"

"My books," he says, sheepishly, still breathing hard.

Ji Yeon smiles, kindly. "Charlie… how do you expect to lug that thing everywhere we go?"

"I, uh…"

"And when do you expect to do all this _reading_?" Julian asks.

"I – er – just… you know…"

Megan laughs. "Maybe only take a couple."

Charlie rolls his eyes dramatically. "I _knew_ you'd say that."

"Well," Megan goes on, "that's what spending nearly a month and a half on a boat with someone does."

Charlie swings the ridiculously heavy bag back over his shoulder.

"Oi, Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

Megan helps him lift the bag a little. "You think you can lend me a book? I've been having a bit of troubling sleeping and I thought maybe if I read a bit before bed and cleared my mind…"

Charlie's face lights up. "Of course! Come one, I've got loads in my room!"

An honest shock is clear on Megan's face. "You mean _this_ isn't all of them?"

"Not nearly," Charlie grins.

* * *

"Nice one!"

Aaron beamed up at Clementine. "Right through the middle! Take that, Clementine!"

She laughs, swinging an arm around him. "Well, well, well… looks like I was wrong about you…" She glances down at her watch. "And it only took… two hours."

Aaron laughs. "Better late then never."

"Yeah…" Clementine says, her smile suddenly fading. She swings her arms around his neck and and pulls in into a hug.

"Uh… Clem…?" Aaron pats her back, awkwardly. "It's not _that_ big a deal…"

Clementine ignores him. "I'm just happy for you. Better late then never," she murmurs.

* * *

"_He moved?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_B-but…why?"_

"_He, uh…" Cassidy sighed, and rubbed her eyes. Clementine knew her mother was tired. "He… needed to go live with his grandma…"_

_Clementine struggled to understand. "But… what about Aunty Kate?"_

"_She had to go away," Cassidy says, quietly._

"_But _why_?"_

"_I don't _know_," Cassidy said, suddenly angry. "Just… just go to bed, Clem."_

_She knew not to push it. Clementine stood up and walked out of the living room, leaving her mother to her thoughts. She knew was that Aunty Kate left her mother a letter, then left, and now Aaron had to live with his grandma – in _Australia_. _

_It didn't make any sense._

_Determined to find some answers (why didn't anyone tell her anything?) she turned from her room and headed for her mother's._

_Digging through her top drawer, she found it: the envelope with the word ' Cass' scrawled over it._

_Quickly, with shaking hands, she opened it and pulled out the letter._

_She read, her heart racing._

Dear Cass. I'm sorry. I need to go back. Jack was right. I know it's crazy… trust me, I know. But I owe it to them and I owe it to Aaron. I need to find her, for him. I'll probably be gone by the time you get this. Sorry I didn't say goodbye properly… I knew what you'd say and I knew it'd make sense… I knew you'd be able to convince me to stay. But I can't. I hope you can understand. You've been the greatest friend I think I've ever had. Thank you… thank you so much for all you did for us. I love both of you. Love, Kate.

PS. I'll tell him all about Clementine. I know he'll want to know.

_Clementine stares at the paper for another minute, then stuffs it back into the envelope, replaces it, and head to her room._

_Lying on her bed, Clementine tries to make some kind of meaning out of what she read. Go back? Back where? Who's 'them'? Who's 'her'?_

_It's then she decided that, however long it took, she was going to find out._

* * *

"Here," Charlie says, holding out an old, worn out book.

Megan takes it, looking wary. "_Hamlet_? Isn't that by Shakespeare?"

Charlie looks mortally offended. "_Of course_ it's by Shakespeare!"

Megan looks down at the book, holding it as if it might catch fire at any moment. "Okay… what's it about?"

Charlie's smile returns. "Well, it's about this man who sees the ghost of his dead father, and he tells him to do something, so he tries to, and everyone thinks he's insane – "

Megan's eyes widen as she forces the book back into Charlie's hands. "No, no, no," she says quickly. "I want another." (She's had enough ghosts to last her a life time.)

Charlie shrugs. "All right… then take this one," he says, pulling another book out of one of the piles on the floor. "_Peter Pan_. It always cheers me up."

"No ghosts in this one? No crazy people?"

Charlie looks at her, curiously. "No…"

She smiles. "It's perfect."

* * *

"Where is it?" Walt hisses into Alice's ear as they both move quickly down a hallway below deck.

"I'm going to get it. Is everything packed? I want it to be the last thing."

"Why?"

Alice shoots him a look. "_Because_, Walt. Now, _is everything packed_?"

"Almost."

Alice raises an eyebrow. "Almost?"

"Yeah. I've got some stuff left. So does Clem, I think. And maybe Charlie."

Walt doesn't miss the smirk that spreads across Alice's lips. "You call her _Clem_?"

"Shut up."

"Well," Alice says, "get everything together. I'll go get it now."

"I'm coming with you," Walt says, almost angrily.

"But –"

Walt takes hold of Alice's arm and pulls her down another hall. They stop walking in front of the common room, where Aaron, Clementine, and Megan are sitting. "Clementine," Walt says through the doorway, still gripping Alice's arm, "can you get the rest of my stuff outta my room and into the boat for me? I gotta do something."

Clementine looks a little confused, but nods. "Sure."

"Thanks."

With that, he pulls Alice away and drags her down the hall.

"You know," Alice says, managing to sound very dignified for someone being pulled around, "you can let go of me. It's a boat, Walt. Where am I supposed to run off to?"

"With you," he says, "you never know."

* * *

Clementine heaves Walt's bag over her shoulder, thankful that his case full of knives is already stored safely on the lifeboat. She curses under her breath, realizing just how heavy it is.

Something clatters to the ground.

She wouldn't have looked – honest, she wouldn't have (she tells herself) – if it hadn't fallen open on _that_ particular page.

It's Walt's sketch pad.

And it's a picture of a woman sitting in a chair – it's a picture of _her_.

She drops Walt's pack and picks up the sketch pad. Her heart races. She quickly looks out the door, listening hard for anyone coming. She's alone.

Quickly, she flips to the first page. It's just scribbles: some hands, a few eyes, a trees, a dog.

She keeps flipping. A house. A polar bear. A half-finished man. A sun set.

They're beautiful.

On the next page she recognizes another woman – Alice. It's her face; she's looking away to the left. The picture is done all in pencil, but for the bit of red Walt wove through her hair.

She keeps going. It's all of them. Charlie laughing, Ji Yeon smiling, Julian's stoic face, Megan looking down at her stomach, Aaron with his hood up…

And then there's her. Clementine sitting. Clementine standing. Clementine looking out over the water. Clementine smiling, Clementine frowning, Clementine's profile, Clementine walking, Clementine's hair in the wind, Clementine's eyes, Clementine, Clementine, Clementine.

She snaps the book shut, her heart still racing, though she's completely forgotten about listening for anyone coming.

She realizes Walt must have meant to pack this last, which was why it was still out. Hastily, Clementine opens the bag and shoves the book in. (Why are her hands trembling?)

Standing up, she notices there's something else sitting on the bed. A little wooden box. She picks it up and opens it; it's full of letters, all addressed to him. Her curiosity spikes, but even she knows when a line is about to be crossed. She stuff that in the bag, too.

* * *

"_Tell me about my father." _

_Cassidy looked over the table at her twelve-year-old daughter. She picked up a French fry and bites into it. "Clever, taking me out to a public place so I don't make a scene."_

_Clementine smiles. "I learned from the best."_

"_Do you need more soda? Because the – "_

"_Don't change the subject," Clementine said, quickly._

_Cassidy sighed heavily. "There isn't much to tell. We were together," she explained slowly, "but…"_

"_But?" Clementine prompts. She could see her mother was torn between protecting her feelings and telling the truth. But she'd heard enough from the conversations she used to have with Aunty Kate to know that her father had been no Prince Charming._

"_He conned me, Clem" said Cassidy, flatly. "He was a conman and I… I fell for it."_

"_He _conned_ you?" she repeated, her eyes narrowing "As in… tricked you?"_

_Cassidy nodded, taking another French fry. "Yup. Took my money. It's what he was after the entire time. He lied to me, then left. For good. I had him locked up."_

"_Oh."_

_Cassidy reaches across the table and takes her daughter's hand. "But don't let it get to you, sweetheart. Just because he was a terrible person doesn't mean anything."_

"_No, I… uh…I just wondered…" She looked up at her mother, wondering whether or not she should keep going. She decided she may as well – they _were_ in a public place, after all. "I just wondered if he even… you know, knew about me."_

_Cassidy lowers her eyes and bites her lip. "Yeah," she said gently, "yeah, he knew about you."_

"_And he never… came to see me when I was a baby? Or wrote me letters? Or sent birthday cards?"_

"_You daddy," Cassidy said quickly, "didn't care about anyone but himself. And I don't care if _someone_…" Her voice trails off sadly and Clementine knows she's thinking about Kate. "If someone," she continued, strongly, "tries to tell me – or you – different, understand? A tiger don't change his stripes."_

_Clementine nodded. "Got it."_

_Cassidy's hard look faded away. "Oh, honey, I didn't mean to upset you."_

"_I'm not upset," Clementine assured her. _

"_Well, I shouldn't talk like that… he's still your daddy, after all."_

"_No," Clementine said, a little too quickly. "He might be my father, but he ain't my 'daddy'."_

* * *

It was raining above deck; the clouds had finally broken and again rain poured down on them. However, the mood in the kitchen was light as they all ate dinner together – though that may have had something to do with the alcohol.

"Macachaton whiskey," Ji Yeon says proudly, refilling her glass. "The _finest_. I've been saving it," she explains.

Clementine raises an eyebrow skeptically as Ji Yeon takes a drink. "How old are you again?"

"Plenty old."

"So," Walt says, filling his own glass, "how many more days are we stuck on this boat?"

"Just a few, I think," Ji Yeon says. "I spoke to the captain this morning. He said that, depending on the water, we should be able to leave the day after tomorrow. Or the day after that."

"The doctor's coming, right?" Aaron pipes up.

Ji Yeon nods. "Of course the doctor is coming." She nods her head over to where Megan sits. "Can't leave without him, now can we?"

Megan rolls her eyes and pats her increasingly round belly. "Yeah… seems to have taken a shine to me, hasn't he?"

They laugh, eating and drinking.

Clementine steals a glance over at Walt. She forces herself not to think about the sketchbook (_everyone was in it, after all_) and tried to focus on her food (_and_ _you shouldn't have looked at it at all_), but can't seem to manage.

"Fancy a game of charades later?" Charlie asks the table.

Aaron raises an eyebrow. "How can you still be thinking about games when in a few days, we're going to be out in the open ocean in a lifeboat, stranding ourselves on some deserted island?"

"Scared?" Clementine smiles teasingly at Aaron.

"No!" Aaron cries, offended. He drains his glass. "No, I was just wondering. I thought he might be… you know, nervous. But apparently," he says, shooting Charlie a look, "he's _not_. This is all some big adventure to you, right?"

"Well…yeah," Charlie replies, innocently.

Ji Yeon tilts her head and smiles at him, her face flushed. "Look at you, Charlie! Laughing in the face of danger! Laughing in the face of death! Ha ha ha!"

Julian slides her glass away from her. "I think you're just about done," he mumbles, though he's smirking at her.

"To die would be an awfully big adventure," Charlie says. He winks at Megan.

"What?" Walt asks.

"It's from Peter Pan… don't you _read_? You know, other then comic books," he adds, grinning. They laugh.

"Hey, Ji?" Charlie looks down at table at Ji Yeon, flashing her a toothy, mischievous grin. "Think I could have a bit of that Macacha-whats-it-called?"

Clementine shakes her head. "No way!" she laughs. "What are you, _fifteen_?"

"Eighteen!" Charlie cried, pretending to be deeply offended.

Aaron snorts.

"Okay… almost eighteen… sort of."

"You're barely seventeen," Alice points out.

Walt laughs. "Oh, come on. He can have a bit." He takes the bottle and pours a bit into Charlie glass. "You only live once, right?"

Clementine is smiling, but she shakes her head. "Well, target practice is still on tomorrow – I don't care _who_ has a hangover."

"Fair enough," agrees Walt. He smiles at her. Her stomach tightens as she quickly looks away and she gulps down more whiskey.

Ji Yeon clears her throat. "A toast!" she cries, holding up the glass she managed to sneak back from Julian. It's inexplicably full again.

The other seven hold up their glass, waiting.

After a pause, Julian leans over to Ji Yeon. "Uh… to what?"

Ji Yeon's face looks pained, as if it's difficult for her to think of something – or think at all.

"To Peter Pan!" cries Walt.

"Hear, hear!" Charlie laughs.

"To being on solid ground again!" Julian pipes up.

"To no more morning sickness!"

"To those little shorts Ji Yeon wears!"

Clementine quickly snatches Aaron's glass away from him. "Relax there, Casanova."

"Hear, hear!" cries Charlie again. Everyone but Aaron raises their glasses and takes a drink.

Charlie spits his whiskey back out, spraying it all down his front and across his plate.

Ji Yeon collapses in a fit of giggles.

"Ugh! That's _terrible_!" Charlie cries, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "People drink that for _fun_?"

Megan hands him her water, which he gratefully accepts. Walt wipes tears from his eyes. Even Alice is laughing.

They talk and eat well into the night, and it's only when Ji Yeon's eyes start closing that they slowly make their ways back to their rooms.

* * *

Clementine's eye opens, her pupil expanding as it tries to catch any light that might be in the black room. Everything is completely still as she listens, breathing hard, for what woke her.

Then it comes again – a woman screams.

Clementine lies still, trying to sort out whether or not she's still dreaming, when all of the sudden it dawns on her. She jumps out of bed and tears out of the room, racing down one of the long, ill-lit hallways.

Megan is the woman screaming.

People have already started gathering around her room as Clementine gets there. Megan stands in the doorway, one arm draped protectively over her stomach, the other gesturing wildly into the room. Crew members rush past as Clementine makes her way over. Walt, Ji Yeon and Aaron are already there, listening to Megan, looking worried.

"What's going on?" she demands.

"There!" Megan cries. "Look!"

Clementine tried to peer past her into the dark room. "What?"

"Water! The floor is covered in _water_!"

Clementine's breath is suddenly caught in her throat. "Wh-what? It can't – I mean – it's not…"

She looks over at Walt, hoping for answers. He looks just as lost as she is.

Charlie and Julian run up the hall together. "What's going on?" Charlie asks.

"We heard shouting," Julian says.

"We're sinking!" Megan screams, near hysterics.

"No we're not," Julian says, calmly.

Charlie pushes past him, squeezing his way through the hall to Megan. "How do you know?" he asks. Clementine is a little taken back – Charlie suddenly isn't the youthful, smiling boy she thought she knew so well. His voice was calm, yet forceful. There was no sign of worry or fear on his young face. Clementine is almost reassured by him: he's in charge.

"There's water all over my floor!" Megan cries.

Charlie pushes past Megan and steps into the room. He flicks on a light and Clementine gasps despite herself.

At least six inches of water covered Megan's floor.

Charlie steps through it, splashing as he goes. "It gets worse over here. Megan, you're the last room in this hall, right?"

She nods.

"We're listing," Charlie says, coming back out of the room, "to the right."

"What do we do?" asks Walt.

Suddenly, everything lurches violently to the right.

Megan screams as Julian grabs her arm to steady her.

"What the hell was that?" he asks to no one in particular, real fear in his usually steady voice.

Clementine grabs Aaron's hand and he clings to her, looking up at her, terrified. "We're going down." It's not a question.

Lights flicker.

"I need to talk to the captain," Ji Yeon says, suddenly.

"Get onto the deck," Charlie tells everyone, ignoring her.

Walt looks up the hall. "But what about – "

"_Get – on – to – the – deck_."

Ji Yeon shakes her head, moving away from the group, still huddled around Megan's doorway. Aaron breaks away from Clementine and grabs her arm. "Where are you going?" he demands.

"I need to talk to the captain!" she repeats, shrilly, nearly shouting.

"Why?" Julian asks, using one of his arms to steady himself against the wall, the other still clutching Megan. Clementine can see the familiar green tinge creeping back onto this face and realizes how off-balance she feels.

"_The boat is sinking_!" Ji Yeon cries. "What do you mean '_why'_? I need to go find out what to do – I'm the only one here who can speak – "

"You can't go by yourself," Aaron interrupts. "What if something happens?"

Clementine sees his hands tightly around Ji Yeon's.

She tries to jerk away. "Aaron, there's no time to – "

"Then we'd better get going," he says, firmly.

For a moment, Ji Yeon stares up at him. Finally, she nods. "Let's go then."

Clementine feels her heart sink into her stomach. "Aaron, wait!"

But he and Ji Yeon are already half way down the hall, running hand in hand. "I'll meet you on the deck!" he cries over his shoulder before they both turn around a corner and disappear.

"Has anyone seen Alice?" Walt says, urgently.

"Alice?" Megan repeats. "Oh my God… where's Alice?"

Charlie shakes his head. "We can't worry about that now. No doubt she'll have noticed something's off by now. She's a smart woman, she's probably already waiting for us by the lifeboat."

"But what if –" Megan begins

But a sudden realization hits Walt. "No," he says calmly, "she's with the lifeboat."

"Excellent," Charlie says. He looks up at Walt, silently pleading with him to back him up. "Now, can we get moving?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

It's as if a spell has been broken – if Walt said to go then there was no question about what to do next. Whether any of them had realized it or not, Walt was their unspoken leader. Alice had been right all along – they would listen to him.

The five of them start to move through the hallways, Charlie leading them. He makes a point of keeping out of certain areas, taking long ways around corridors or missing some staircases all together. No one says anything – they can all feel the boat tilting now.

Crew members rush past them, shouting orders at them that they don't understand.

Walt just points his finger up, indicating the deck. Then they nod, rushing away again.

Finally, they find their way up. The storm had finally broken and Clementine vaguely wonders if the weather has anything to do with what's happening to the boat.

She squints through the pounding rain. Figures are dashing everywhere. There are three more lifeboats set up. It strikes her then just how bad this is – even the crew is leaving.

She looks around, wildly, searching for Aaron.

"Over here!" Charlie cries over the wind and the waves. They follow him to the lifeboat that they'd filled only hours earlier – it may as well have been a lifetime ago.

Alice is already there, a backpack clutched to her chest. "We need to go!" she yells to Walt as they others finally reach her.

"I know!" Charlie calls back.

Alice immediately turns from Walt and looks to Charlie. He was clearly the only one who knew what was going on. Walt may have _felt_ like their leader, but in this moment, it was Charlie who would get them through.

Alice and Walt are already helping Megan into the boat. She nearly slips; the rain has made everything slick.

"Clem, get in!" Walt roars over the waves.

She ignores him, looking back out over they deck. Where were they?

Suddenly, Walt grabs her wrist as pulls her to the boat. "Get in!"

"I need to find Aaron!"

"We won't leave without him," Charlie assures her, now pushing her back closer to the boat, which is hanging perilously over the edge of the boat. "Just get in!"

She knows that they're right, that she needs to get in the boat, but she can't bring herself to. She meets Walt's eyes. "Please, Walt." She's so quiet she knows he couldn't possibly hear her over the rain, but the message seems to reach him just the same.

He looks more pained then she's ever seen him. She's sure he's about the let her go, let her find him, when suddenly –

"I see them!"

Megan was shrieking from the boat, pointing wildly to the other end of the deck, the side that now dipped dramatically toward the water, angry waves trying to crawl up onto it.

Clementine wiped her head around and saw Aaron and Ji Yeon, clutching each other as they struggled up the steep incline, slipping as the ran.

Before Clementine has any chance to feel relieved, someone's arms around are around her, heaving her into the boat.

Still not fully realizing what was happening, she hears Ji Yeon shouting something to Alice and Walt.

"Charlie, come back!"

Julian's voice startles her out of whatever thoughts she had been lost in.

"_Charlie_!"

Charlie is moving away from the lifeboat, sliding back down the other side of the deck. "They're doing it wrong!" he yells over the roar of the storm engulfing them. Only a few of his words reach them as he moves further and further away. "Ropes… another minute and they'll… can't tell the… I need too…"

But then he's gone, rushing away to the last few crew members, struggling with something on the other side of the _White Rabbit_.

"Charlie!" Aaron stands up and hurls himself out of the boat after him.

"Goddamnit, Littleton!" Julian screams. "Get back here!"

But Aaron doesn't hear him; he sprints after his friend.

There's no hesitation when Clementine stands up, pulling away from the hands they try to grab hold of her and pull her back down. She follows the two boys out onto the deck, disoriented by the noise and the water, loosing her balance with every other step. There's a another lurch and a horrible, groaning, metallic sound and she knows that the engines are gone, that the boat is nothing but an piece of wood bobbing up and down in the storm, too heavy to stay up much longer.

She slips, her knee slamming painfully onto the deck.

She stands back up, sprinting again.

When she finally manages to get to the other side, Aaron is leaning over the railing, nearly in the water so close below him.

She wraps her arms around his, trying to pull him away. "Aaron, what the hell are you doing? Go back! We have to – "

"_Charlie! Charlie!_" Aaron's screams drown out every other sound around them. Never has she heard anything so anguished. "_Chaaarlie_!"

Then it hits her – Aaron's reaching out over the water – she can't find Charlie – he must be –

Over Aaron's shoulder, she looks down into the violent, black water.

Charlie Hume is already nearly invisible. The black water starts to swallow him.

* * *

He doesn't try to take in the sky or the rain or the clouds he knows he's never see again. He looks up, instead, at the boat he'd just slipped off of, at Aaron and the woman trying to pull him away.

He knows how stupid it was now, to try and help the crew when he – who had grown up living on a boat – had known there was no hope. But, somehow, he knows that this was _supposed_ to happen. It was for the rest of them.

He spreads out his arms wide. He's hoping to float, to stay on the surface as long as he can, but he knows that it's all in vain. But he stays like that, nailed to his invisible crucifix.

He understands, as the waves beat at him and he sputters and coughs, fighting for what little air he could find, that he was a sacrifice, though he wasn't sure why. Payment for a debt he didn't understand.

But without it, those people he'd spent so long with would never be safe; they'd never make it.

So he is at peace. With a little smile up at Aaron, he lets him he dragged under the black water.

He isn't scared.

* * *

"Aaron! We have to get back!"

Aaron reaches out over the side of the boat. "Charlie! Damn it, Clementine, let go of me!"

"No, come on!"

Clementine, her arms tight around him, pulls as hard as she can.

Somewhere, through all of the other noises surrounding her, she hears someone shouting.

It's Walt, calling for her.

"They're waiting for us!" she yells at Aaron. "Do you want everyone else to die, too, because you couldn't pull yourself together?"

"He was right there!" Aaron insists. His voice is choked. She knows he's crying. "Right there!"

"Let's _go_!"

Aaron stares out over the water for another minute, but his arms drop to his sides. "B-but he was smiling. He was smiling."

"Clementine!" Walt cries.

Somehow, she manages to drag Aaron away from the tipping side of the boat. She can hardly see through the rain the pours down in heavy sheets. Instead, she listens as hard as she can for Walt, his voice guiding her.

"Clementine! Clementine!"

* * *

"_Clementine?"_

_She looked up from her coffee at the man speaking to her. "Yeah. You must be Walt, then?"_

_Walt nodded, taking a seat across the table. "Thanks for meeting me."_

"_Save your breath," she huffed. "You know why I'm here."_

"_Right. Aaron. He'll be there," he assured her, yet again. "Anyhow, are you ready to hear me out?"_

"_I don't see that I have much of a choice," Clementine sighed, folding her arms across the table. "If I don't, you'll just keep calling me, won't you?"_

"_Pretty much."_

_She motioned for him to start talking._

_Walt gave her the same speech he's given so many times before – the Island, the people left behind, how it had to be_ her_, it had to be_ now_._

_He inhaled deeply when he'd finished, waiting for her to say something._

_She didn't. She just raised an eyebrow._

"_Well?" he asked, tentatively._

"_So, what…?" she began. "We go out on this boat and you and I sit and watch the sunset together before we become superheroes and save everyone?"_

_Walt laughed. "Yeah. Something like that."_

_She rolled her eyes, but she was smirking. "I think not, Casanova."_

"_What – you wouldn't watch the sunset with me?"_

_She leaned forward over the table and Walt had just enough time to appreciate the different shades of brown in her eyes before she said, "never."_

_Walt learned back in his chair, grinning. "Never say never." _

* * *

The storm breaks. The sky is still an angry purple-gray, but the rain had turned into a fine mist and the waves, though still pounding into the sides of the life boat, had let up enough so that they didn't have to hold to something to stay seated.

No one speaks.

Clementine looks at each of them.

Walt sits with his head in her hands – she knows he blames himself for what happened. She knows that he thinks it was his fault that they were all in danger, his fault that somewhere (she'd rather not think where, but she know he's picturing it in his mind as clearly as if he were there himself), Charlie's all alone.

Megan sits near by, shivering violently. The wet blanket Alice put over her shoulders is doing nothing to keep her warm. Clementine is almost surprised to see Megan's hands folded in front of her mouth as she murmurs to herself. She'd never taken Megan for the praying type.

Alice is still clutching her backpack like a first born. Clementine can almost hear the cogs in her brain at work, trying to come up with a way to fix this.

Julian is trying to stay focused – probably on keeping the dinner they all had together safely in his stomach, she realizes.

Ji Yeon is sitting beside him, her eyes blank, though silent tears streak down her cheeks. It's almost as if she doesn't notice them, and really, with all the water and rain around them, maybe she doesn't. Her lip is bleeding a little. Clementine wonders is she hit it, or if she's bit herself. Every few minutes, Ji Yeon looks over at Aaron, like she's making sure he's still there.

But Aaron isn't there at all – not really. He looks out over the water, back to where the boat had been. Clementine knows he's looking for some sign; any kind of clue, that his friend is still there, that he'll pop up any moment.

_He's dead_, she tells herself, _Charlie died._

She can see why Aaron is having a hard time believing it.

He looks nearly dead, too.

Ji Yeon looks up so suddenly that Clementine is pulled out of her thoughts.

"Oh my God!" she shouts.

Walt's head flies up out of his hands. "What?" he calls, over the roaring water, looking around frantically. "What is it?"

But Ji Yeon's eyes are fixed on Megan.

"The doctor," she says, though Clementine can hardly hear her.

Julian closes his eyes and inhales deeply, as he, too, realizes what this means.

Megan's eyes are wide with fear. "Where is he?" she cries.

Ji Yeon shakes her head. "He must have got on one of the boats with the rest of the crew. Or else –" She doesn't finish.

"But," says Clementine, suddenly hopefully, "we're all going the same way, aren't we? We'll end up in the same place!"

Ji Yeon shakes her head. "There's _no_ _way_ the crew will go to that island. They'd rather stay on the boat, I'm sure."

"Surely not," Alice says. "Surely, they'll…"

"They'll row away," Julian says, coldly. "They'll row out, and find some current; hopefully run into a boat."

Walt glances at Alice. "Can they do that?" he asks her.

Clementine is completely confused, but Alice seems to understand perfectly.

"We aren't that close yet, I don't think we're in the radius, " she explains. "They should be fine."

Megan cries quietly into her hands, sobs shaking her shoulders.

"Don't cry," Julian says, looking terrified, as if he'd never seen a woman weeping before. "I – I know a l-lot about medicine. I'm going to be a doctor, remember?"

Megan looks up at him. "B-but you're a st-st-student!"

"Doesn't matter," he says, quickly, and Clementine knows he's lying. "It'll still be okay. I can take care of you."

Suddenly Clementine feels a rush of affection for Julian, something a few hours ago she would have never thought possible.

Thunder roars somewhere overhead.

Clementine wraps her arms around herself. She's scared.

The wind picks up again.

"Brace yourselves!" Alice cries.

The storm slowly comes back to life. Water gushes over the sides of the boat as they rock and toss on top of the water that seems so intent on finding them.

A huge wave crashes over them.

Someone screams.

Clementine turns to see if everyone is still there.

Her hand slips in the slide of the boat she was holding.

She looses her balance and the boat is somehow – inexplicably – sideways. Her head smacks into the side of the boat.

Pain, then black.


	8. Terrific

**Chapter Seven: _"Terrific"_**

_"Don't bring him back, Kate. Don't you dare bring him back" - Claire, "There's No Place Like Home, Pt. 2 & 3", season four_

Aaron's eye snaps open, his pupil dilating rapidly as the light nearly blinds him.

The back of his head screams with pain.

He tries desperately to think of where he was and how he'd gotten there. He is laying on something – something hard, yet it moves beneath him as he struggles to sit up. His hands dig into the surface as his still foggy mind works hard to find the word for it – _sand_.

He struggles to his feet, fighting to see past the little lights that popped up in front of him.

Staggering forward, squinting through the light that was not dazzlingly bright, but still more then he was used to, he tries to make out the dark figures in front of him.

But a sound reaches him first, a sound that is unmistakable, as if he'd heard it every day for years. _Waves_.

"Beach," he mumbles to himself, still staggering drunkenly over the sand, fighting for balance as the back of his head throbs.

A tall black man and a thin man with blond hair each had the arm of a very pregnant girl over their shoulders, helping her out of the water.

A woman with long, sandy blond hair is on all fours, coughing up water, her entire body heaving painfully.

A pretty Asian girl sits in front of another woman.

He struggles to make any sense of this. He tries desperately to remember who these people are, or if he knows them at all, but the pain in the back of his head keeps his thoughts sliding away from them. He looks around the beach, as the figures slowly come into focus, searching for someone else. Who, he wasn't sure, but he knew there was someone else.

The Asian girl sits facing the water, screaming desperately, though she stays with the woman with flaming red hair, who seems to be unconscious.

"_Aaron! Aaron!_"

She was calling for _him_.

He drags himself forward, trying to call back to her, whoever she was, but his mouth wouldn't form words.

It's enough; the girl turns her head, stands up, and runs to him.

She grabs him as he nearly looses his balance.

"Aaron! Oh, thank God, thank God," she pants. Her eyes are wild, panicked. "I thought you were still out there! I didn't see you, I…"

She stops talking, though Aaron doesn't notice. He's taking in her pretty face, trying so hard to remember why it means so much to him.

"Aaron," she says again. He likes it when she says his name. "Aaron, _you're head…_"

Aaron brings his hand up to the back of his head. It's hot and sticky wet. He brings his hand back and looks down at it. Red.

Before he could put these pieces together, make any sense of them, the beautiful girl's face starts to swim before him. Everything is blurred as he feels his knees give out and feels sand again.

"_Aaron_!"

Then black, then nothing.

* * *

_Aaron didn't speak much at first. And he doesn't sleep unless she sings 'Catch A Falling Star'._

_He was confused and terrified, when a woman he'd never seen before came into his room as he woke up. She looked very sad and very happy at the same time._

"_Where's Mommy?" he asked, alarmed, as he sat up in bed._

_The woman cleared her throat. "She, uh, had to go away from a bit. She's on a trip, sweetie. But she'll be back soon."_

_A pause._

"_Like after cartoons?"_

"_No, no… no, not that soon."_

_Fear bubbled up inside of Aaron. "When?"_

"_I'm not sure. Soon, though," the woman assures him._

_Tears gather in his eyes. "Where's Mommy?" he demanded._

"_Listen," said the woman brightly, "would you like to go and have breakfast? Your mummy said your nanny would be in today. Would you like to go see her?"_

_Aaron nodded. "Will Jack be there, too?"_

"_Who?"_

"_Jack."_

"_Oh…" The woman lowered her head. "No, sweetheart, no. Jack won't be there today."_

"_What's your name?"_

_The woman looked back up, smiling, but again managing to look sad as she did so. "I'm your grandma, Aaron."_

_He remembered his mother saying something about his grandma the night before - that she had to leave and his grandma would take care of him. But no, that was a dream. Just a bad dream._

"_No you're not."_

"_Y-yes I am."_

_Aaron narrows his eyes. "I've never seen you before."_

"_I know… I didn't know… I mean…" The woman sighed. "I live very far away, sweetie. That's why."_

_"I don't understand," he said, flatly. _

_The woman took his hand. "I know, love. I'm so sorry. But you know what? I'm going to make you a promise. I promise there will be no more secrets, all right?"_

_"Mommy said it was bad to keep secrets."_

_"It is," the woman assured him. "And so, I'll tell you everything. But not now," she smiled. "Now, let's have some breakfast."_

_And so he went with the woman. They had breakfast with the nanny and without Jack. Then his things were packed and he was on an airplane, to the place far away where the woman lived. _

_He was very scared through it all, though he never said he was. He didn't speak much at first._

* * *

Aaron opens his eyes again. This time, Julian is leaning over him, saying something he can't quite make out.

"Gerroffohme."

"What was that?" Julian asks, excitedly. "Clementine, get over here, he's talking! What was that Aaron?"

"_Get off of me_."

Sitting up, he pushes Julian away from him, grabbing his head. "What the hell happened?"

He looks around. Julian, Alice, and Ji Yeon are all sitting around him on the sand in the shade of a large tree. Clementine, who had been a little ways off with Walt and Megan, rushes toward them.

"Aaron!" she cries. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," he mumbles, "fine. What happened?"

"You must have smacked your head on something," she says softly, kneeling down beside him. "Julian had a look at you. He says you were lucky: it bled a lot, but it wasn't too deep. Should heal up on its own."

Aaron didn't take in a word of what she had said. "What happened to your _face_?" he demands.

"Oh, this?" Clementine smiles, gingerly touching the dark bruise on the side of her face. "It's nothing. Battle wounds."

Aaron leaned against the tree trunk. "So… we went down? Again?"

Ji Yeon nodded. "The storm was massive; the life boat couldn't handle it."

Alice moves closer to him. "Aaron," she says, very seriously, looking him dead in the eye, "I need you to think very carefully. Did you have a nosebleed when you woke up on the beach?"

"A what?"

"A _nosebleed_," she insists. "Think. This is very important."

"I, uh… I don't remember."

Ji Yeon shakes her head. "He didn't when I found him."

Alice nods, relaxing a bit. "Good. Tell me if you develop one."

Julian is about to ask Alice why this was so important, but Aaron interrupts.

"How's Megan?" he asks, suddenly, as everything slowly started to come back to him.

"Fine," Clementine assured him. "There was a bit of a scare earlier… She was having some pains – we thought she was going into labour."

Aaron's jaw drops. "Is she – ?"

"She's fine," Clementine says, quickly. "False alarm."

"I knew she shouldn't have come," Aaron says, more to himself then anyone else, "I _knew_ it."

"No one could have seen what happened," Julian says, rationally. "There was no way we could have known that the doc –"

But just then, another thought hits Aaron.

"Charlie," he says slowly, interrupting Julian.

Ji Yeon grabs his hand. "Oh, Aaron…"

He pulls away from her, looking over at Clementine. _It really happened, then?_ he silently asks her.

The pity and sadness, so strange on her usually sure and steady face, tells him it had.

He puts his head in his hands. "Son of a bitch."

* * *

The heat of the day is nearly unbearable. On the beach, there's nothing to protect them from the sun aside from a few trees here and there.

Aaron sits in front of the water, watching the waves, now so small and harmless, roll onto the sand.

They decide to stay on the beach for a few days, hoping that a bit more of what they had packed might wash up on shore. They were lucky. Walt had already the big plastic bin they had loaded with food. Julian had managed to find Walt's case of knives and, not long after, two duffle bags and the metal box of guns washed up on shore as well. Alice had managed to hold onto her backpack through it all.

Aaron knew he ought to be helping the others as they set up camp for the night, but he couldn't bring himself to.

It was hard to take in. They are there. _Here_. This was the place he was born, the place where his mother had been all these years, the place Kate had abandoned him for.

But it was nothing special, really. Just sand and trees.

So he sat there, trying to sort through everything he felt – which was something he was never very good at – and stared out over the water. He wished desperately for Charlie. He'd have been able to cheer him up somehow.

He hums the tune that has been stuck in his head ever since he'd woken up again. It's ridiculous, he knows, to have _that_ song in his head, but it's been this way ever since he was a kid. He never did understand why he gets 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' stuck in his head whenever he went to the beach, but he always did.

* * *

"_The itsy bitsy spider_…" _he sang to himself, very softly, very slowly, "went up the water spout. Down came the rain and drowned the spider out_…"

_"It's 'washed', lovie. _Washed_ the spider out."_

_"Oh."_

_Carole took Aaron to the beach as much as she could. She knew it was hard for him here and wondered whether she was being selfish, taking him back to Australia with her. But he always seemed comfortable at the beach._

_She watched as he made sandcastles and sang to himself._

_She tried to play with him as much as she could, tried to bond. "What's that you're making?" she asked, taking off her sunglasses and placing them on the top of her head._

_Aaron had lined up sticks inside a circle he'd made. _

_"These are the people," he answered in his still-American accent as he pointed to the sticks. "And this is where they live. Oh," he said, picking up a nearby stone, "and this is the dog."_

_"Really? What kind of dog is it?"_

_"A yellow one."_

_For a few moment Aaron moved the sticks around, burying some, moving some out of the circle, and never touching others._

_It was a very complicated game._

_After a while, he looked up at Carole. "Can I go pick up shells near the water?"_

_"Sure. Stay where I can see you, all right?"_

_"Okay."_

_Aaron left, taking one of the sticks with him. Carole watched as he paused, then through the stick into the waves before bending down to look for shells._

* * *

Alice calls them all over to her. She, Clementine, Walt, and Julian are all exhausted from trying to put up some sort of shelter for the night; Ji Yeon and Megan have been trying to fish all day (something that turned out to be much harder then it looked); and Aaron had been sitting on the beach, still staring out over the water.

They sit down in the shade of the large tree Aaron had woken up under.

Alice has the metal case on her lap.

"I think we should each have these now," she says, matter of factly.

"Now?" Ji Yeon says, eyeing the case. She looks back up at Alice. "But we're still on the beach… we're not in any danger… are we?"

Walt and Alice exchange dark looks.

"We don't know what kind of danger we're in," Walt says. "Just because we're not in the jungle yet, doesn't mean we're safe."

The group seems to accept this, though they all shift uncomfortably, looking out over the water or into the trees.

Alice unlocks the case and flips it open.

"There are only five, remember," she says, pulling out a handgun and examining it. "That means two of us will be unarmed. Though Walt," she nods her head in his direction, "will have his knives. We'll rotate," she continues. "The person without a gun today will have one tomorrow, and so on. And so long as that person is always with someone with a gun, they should be fine."

"No one should go anywhere alone," Walt pipes up. "Gun or no gun – we know where everyone is at all times and everyone always has someone with them. Understood?"

They nod back.

Megan looks terrified.

Julian stares out into the jungle, as if waiting for some savage to jump out and attack them.

"Ji Yeon," Alice continues, "how do you feel about being without a gun first?"

Ji Yeon is taken back a bit by the question, but nods. "That's absolutely fine with me."

"Oh, can't I be the one?" Megan says, her face betraying how scared she was.

"No," says Alice, simply. "Now, remember," she says, handing Julian and Clementine their guns, "if you have any questions at all about how to work these, be sure to ask."

She hands Megan her gun. Megan holds it gingerly, as if it might explode.

"Don't worry," Walt says gently, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure you won't need to use it. Stick close to me and I promise you won't."

She nods at him, gratefully.

Aaron looks at her: extremely pregnant, a cut across her cheek, looking terrified, with one of her hands over her huge belly and the other clutching a gun.

_This is fucked up_, he thinks. He can see from the look on everyone else's faces that they agree.

* * *

_"What do you think of this one?"_

_Aaron wrinkled his nose. "It's brown."_

_"You're right. Brown isn't very exciting." The woman helping Aaron find shells on the beach looked down again, searching the sand._

_She was not yet thirty and very pretty. She had long red hair and wore denim shorts and a green t-shirt. Aaron wondered whether he could convince his grandma to let her come over for dinner._

_"Look!" he cried, suddenly, "Miss, look! A pink one!"_

_The woman laughed, making her way back over to Aaron. "'Miss'? Don't you remember my name?"_

_Aaron skewed up his mouth, trying to think._

_The woman laughed. "Charlotte. Remember?"_

_"Oh, yes!" he cried, excitedly. "Charlotte, Charlotte, I found a pink shell!"_

_"Oooh, let me see."_

_"Charlotte?" came a new voice from behind them. "Charlotte, I think we ought to go now. Your mother's very warm and…" The old man walking up to them stopped when he spotted Aaron. "Who's this?"_

_"This," said Charlotte, "is Aaron. His grandmother's sitting right over there," she said, pointing over to Carole. _

_"Grandmother?" the man repeated. He almost seemed confused. He moved closer to Aaron._

_Aaron took a step away, clutching his shell._

_Carole sat up straighter, watching intently._

_"Aaron," said the old man, "may I have a look at that seashell you've got?"_

_"Dad, don't," Charlotte pleaded, softly. _

_The man held his hand up to her. "Please?" he asked Aaron._

_Slowly, Aaron extended his arm to the man, the shell on the palm of his hand. _

_The man bent down to Aaron's level. He touched the shell with both hands, making sure he also touched Aaron's hand._

_He shut his eyes, though Aaron could see them moving beneath his eyelids._

_"Charlotte?" Aaron asked, nervously._

_Charlotte shook the man's shoulder. "Dad! Dad, just leave him alone, enough of –" _

_The man's eyes shot back open. "It's him!" he cried. "Charlotte, this is him, this is – "_

_But he was interrupted by Carole, who had stomped over, snatching Aaron's hand away from the man. "Excuse me," she snapped, "can I help you?"_

_The man didn't bother looking at her. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on Aaron. He looked distraught. "Where's your mummy?" he demanded. "Where's your mother?"_

_Confused and upset, Aaron ducked behind Carole, fading memories of orca whales and brown eyes flooding his mind._

_"What are you _doing_?" cried Carole, angrily. "You stay away from him!"_

_"No, you don't understand! I know him, I know – "_

_Charlotte pulled at her father's hand, begging him to leave._

_"Don't understand?" Carole repeated. "What don't I understand about upsetting a five year old child?"_

_"Just let me hold his hands!" the man begged. "I just need to – "_

_"No!" Carole cried, disgusted, taking a step away, pulling Aaron with her. "You're not getting anywhere near him!"_

_The man looked at Carole, his eyes pleading. "I know who you are. I know what's happened. Miss Littleton, you must listen to me."_

_"No."_

_"But you're not supposed to raise him! It has to be –"_

_"That enough, Dad," Charlotte said, sternly, physically pushing him back up the beach. "I'm sorry!" she called back to Carole. "My father… he's, uh, not well."_

_"I'm well!" he wailed, raving like a madman. "Miss Littleton, please! You're not supposed to raise him! You don't know who I am! I'm Malkin, I'm –"_

_But Carole didn't hear anymore. She scooped up Aaron and walked away from the shore, back to where their towels were laid out up the beach._

_The pink shell slipped out of Aaron hand and he watched it get smaller and smaller as they went._

* * *

The clouds have finally all left and the sun beat down on them mercilessly.

Walt looked for Clementine, but she seemed too caught up in her conversation with Megan and Julian about the hospital Alice had assured them was on the Island to give him any notice.

A little hurt, he wandered off, and finally found Alice sitting alone on the sand, near where they had been trying to string up the tarps. He is startled to find something like sadness on her face. He sits down next to her

"Hello, Walt."

"Hey."

"What can I do for you?"

He sighs, thoughtfully. "Actually, I was just wondering… why Ji Yeon?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"With the guns," he explains, pointing to the one clutched in her hands. "You chose her to be the one without one… so, why Ji Yeon?"

Although she still seemed upset about something, a smile tugs on Alice's lips. "Do you really not know?"

He shakes his head.

"Well, she does seem the least likely to be alone, doesn't she? What with Aaron and Julian hanging off everything she does."

Walt smiles, but it fades. "Aaron doesn't seem to be amymore… he doesn't seem to be doing much of anything, really."

"He's mourning," she says, very softly.

"We all are." He looks at her, as she stared straight ahead, looking out at the water. "Are you all right?" he asks, concerned.

"Yes."

There's silence, but Walt won't let it rest. "You look sad."

"I'm worried about putting up the shelter in time."

"Liar."

"I'm worried about keeping everyone safe while we look for these people."

"Liar."

"I'm worried –"

"I didn't say you looked _worried_," Walt interrupted, "I said you looked _sad_."

Alice finally looks at him. There's a pause as she considers whether of not she should say anything. "He was my cousin," she finally admits.

"What? Who?"

She looks back over the beach. Aaron is sitting in the same spot he's been in all day. "Charlie," she says, softly. "He was my cousin."

"_Really_? Did he…?"

"No. No, he didn't know. Well," she adds, thoughtfully, "he may have. There was one day I found him in the kitchen and I'm sure he had some kind of idea. He was a sharp kid."

Walt nods. "He was."

She looks back to him. "Should I have said something to him?"

Walt's taken back: Alice has never asked his opinion on anything before. "I… uh, I don't know."

She shrugs. "What's done is done," she says softly. "I can't change it now."

There is another pause as they both listen the waves crash into the beach.

"We should something tonight. For Charlie," Walt says.

Alice nods, though she doesn't look back at him. "Yes. I think that'd be nice."

* * *

_A knock at the door sent Aaron's heart pounding madly in his chest. Swallowing hard, he opened the door and took in the man before him._

_"Aaron Littleton?"_

_Aaron nods._

_The man smiles. "Nice to see you again, kid."_

_Aaron steps aside and let's Walt into his house. They talk for hours, though Aaron hardly needed to – he'd made up his mind to find the Island years ago._

* * *

That night, Aaron listens as they all stand in front of the fire they'd managed to make as Walt talks. Under the stars with the fire lighting up the beach, it's almost pretty.

Aaron knows Walt is talking about Charlie; whatever he's saying must be quite good because Megan's crying, Clementine's staring into the sand, and even Alice looks upset. But he still can't bring himself to pay attention.

He stares out into the distant line of trees, wondering. Wondering if he can stand it here – the place that took everything.

He was _born_ here. This was supposed to be him _home_. But it felt like anything but.

Walt drones on. Ji Yeon hugs Megan and Aaron thought he even saw Julian wipe his eye. Walt's good with words.

But soon someone laughs. Aaron's almost startled out of his thoughts by the sound of something he hadn't heard in so long, a sound that sounded so out of place _here_. They keep laughing, however, and above it all he can hear Ji Yeon's voice ring out, clearer and sweeter then all the others.

They're talking about Charlie; remembering him. Of course they'd laugh, he realizes, when you talk about Charlie, how can you not smile?

But he doesn't join them.

There's a loud, harsh noise from the jungle. The laughing stops.

"Did anybody see that?" Megan asks in a hushed voice.

Clementine takes a step forward, squinting through the dark at the tree, her hand on the gun in her belt. "See what?"

"_That_."

The trees are bending and twisting and breaking. No one moves, their feet suddenly rooted into the sand.

_What the fuck is _that_?_

"Can we – ?"

"_Shh_," Walt hisses. They listen.

_Tch tch tch tch tch._

Aaron can hear a metallic grinding noise that raises the hair on the back of his neck.

It stops and the silence hangs eerily over them.

Julian takes a step forward. "_Terrific_."


	9. The Chamber of Secrets

**Chapter Eight: _The Chamber of Secrets_**

_Locke: "The black smoke, the Monster, what is it?"  
Ben: "I don't know."  
- "Confirmed Dead", season four_

_Michael stared out over the water through the grimy window of the little boat, tightly gripping the steering wheel._

_Walt looked up at him. "This boat is so little… are you sure it's going to make it all the way to land?"_

_Michael shook his head. "We're not looking for land. We're looking for a boat. A bigger boat," he explained. "One that'll be able to take us to land."_

_Walt looked out to the horizon, then back to where the Island was now a tiny black speck. "We're going back, though, right? We're coming back with help?"_

_Michael didn't answer._

_"We'll come back, right?" Walt went on hopefully. "For Claire and her baby and for Mr. Locke and the doctor and Charlie and Sawyer and Sun and –"_

_Michael shook his head, angrily. "Can you just be quiet for a bit, Walt?"_

_Walt glared at him, then looked back to the Island again, trying very hard to convince himself he hadn't seen Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley tried up. "I'm going back," he said, fiercely. "I'm gunna go back for them all."_

* * *

The morning is clear and bright, the sun sparkling down over the water that now seems so peaceful after the storm that had raged and ruined everything.

Walt stands on the shore with his pants rolled up, letting the waves wash over his feet, his blue and white sneakers tossed aside.

He inhales deeply. This is it. This is _here_.

And somehow he knows it – somehow it just feels right.

Alice walks up behind him. She throws him a mango. "Julian and I got breakfast," she says.

"Thanks," he replies, giving her a nod. He bites into the fruit. It's wonderful.

Alice stands near him, careful not step in the water. "They're all waiting for you. They want to know what to do next."

"We'll leave a little while. Once we're all packed," he answers.

"I know. That's what I told them. But they want to hear it from you."

Walt turns away from the water, walking back to the rest of the group with Alice, finishing his mango. He grabs his shoes and brings them back with him.

Everyone sits together, eating a bit of the food they had been able to salvage and the fruit that Julian and Alice had found. They look exhausted. Hardly anyone had slept last night.

They all look up as Walt joins them. All except Aaron, who stares blankly down at the sand in front of him. Ji Yeon looks down at him, closes her eyes sadly for the briefet moment, then looks back to Walt.

"Are we leaving?" Megan asks.

Walt nods. "There's no point in staying on the beach anymore. I doubt any more of our things will turn up."

They nod, solemnly.

Walt clears his throat, ready for the speech he's been practicing since they heard the noise last night. "Look," he begins, gently. "I realize… I know this is more then most of you expected. Hell, it's more then _I_ expected, and _I'm_ supposed to know what's going on."

Alice glares at him. She hates it when he puts himself down in front of the others, ruins their picture of the leader that she's worked so hard to create.

"So," Walt goes on, ignoring her, "I'll completely understand if you want to stay here and wait for rescue."

Julian raises an eyebrow. "Rescue? No one knows where we went. Who'd be looking for us _here_?"

Walt shrugs. "You never know. Something might come up and your best bet is staying her and making some kind of signal fire."

Alice snorts. She knows it won't work.

"Or," he continues, pointedly, "there are some caves. I think I can still remember how to get there if you'd rather – "

"We're coming with you," Ji Yeon interrupts.

Walt sighs. "I know you want to, but… you heard that thing last night. It's dangerous and…"

Ji Yeon's gaze is fierce and Walt suddenly realizes how she'd always managed to get the things she wanted. "No way," she continues, strongly. "You think we're just going to sit here, waiting for something to happen? We came with you, remember? We chose this."

In that moment, she looks just like her mother.

Though she has her father's eyes.

Walt looks around at the rest of them. They nod back.

"We want to go," says Megan. "Those people need us."

"You're stuck with us," Clementine agrees. "So drop it now." She smiles. "You're fighting a loosing battle, Artist."

Walt looks out into the trees, then back at the little group assembled before him. "Fine," he says after a while. "All right. We'll go. Pack up your things. We leave in ten minutes."

Walt moves away from them, grabbing his own bag.

"That was brilliant."

Walt straightens up, turning to find Alice behind him again.

"What was?"

She grins. "The way you did that. Made it seem like it was their choice to come."

Walt furrows his brow. "That's not what I did."

"Sure looked like it."

Walt pushes past her, heading back to the rest of them. "I wouldn't do that to them," he mutters as she walks back with him. "I'm not you."

* * *

_Walt did his homework at the kitchen table while his grandmother made dinner._

_"So," she said, in what she hoped is a casual voice, "did you have a nice talk with Hurley?"_

_Walt nodded, doodling in the margins of his work. He shaded in his dog as he said, "yeah. It was fine, I guess."_

_"He wasn't… you know," his grandmother went on, taking the frying pan off the stove, "crazy, right?"_

_"Not that I could tell."_

_She nodded to herself. "Good, good …So, what did you two talk about?"_

_Walt knew she was hoping for news about Michael. But he couldn't bring himself to lie to her like Hurley had lied to him. He knew his father was dead. He couldn't explain it, but somehow he knew._

_But that really wasn't unusual for Walt – he always knew things he shouldn't._

_Made things happen that shouldn't._

_Been places he shouldn't._

_"Nothing," Walt lied. "We didn't really talk about anything."_

* * *

The jungle is denser then Walt remembers. He's in the lead, but he has no idea where he's actually headed. The plan has always been to let the Oceanic Six find _them_ – they'd know if someone new turned up on the Island, and they'd want to investigate.

Walt goes out of his way to make noise and bend twigs, leaving a trail for them to find. They go on and on for hours, though no one complains. Walt can't help but feel proud of them.

Aaron walks up near him, still looking as depressed as Walt has ever seen anyone look. "Feel weird to be back?" he asks.

Aaron looks up at him. "Huh?"

"Does it feel weird to be back, you know, _here_?"

Aaron shrugs and looks back down at his feet. "I dunno. Not really."

Walt inhales deeply. "You'll feel it. Just wait."

But Aaron's sadness seems bring him back to reality. Being back here didn't make up for it all. It didn't fix anything.

--- * --- * ---

They stop when the sun starts to set and the trees block out the light so that they can hardly see a foot in front of them.

"We can stay here tonight," Walt announces as they enter a small clearing.

Gratefully, the group drops their bags and flop down on the jungle floor.

Starting a fire is a problem. They'd lost all the tinder and lighters when the boat went down.

Clementine is trying to rub two sticks together.

Walt bends down to help her. "Hey, cavewoman," he says, "first time lighting a camp fire without matches?"

One of the sticks snaps in her hands. She sighs, tossing it away. "What gave it away?"

"You can always spot the newbies."

Clementine looks up, smiling at him. But it fades. She can see something is wrong. "Then help me out, fire-expert."

He rearranges the large sticks and dry leaves she's piled up. There's a few moments silence and Walt begins to get lost in thoughts.

Clementine clears her throat. She knows exactly what's on his mind. "It was beautiful what you said last night," she says, gently.

Walt looks up, nods, but doesn't say anything. She wishes she had a way to make him feel better, but reality seemed to be creeping up on him as the darkness set in. And reality is harsh – especially for Walt.

"It's not your fault, you know."

Walt looks up at her again.

"About Charlie," she continues, very softly. "It's not your fault."

Walt shakes his head, turning back to the fire. "Tell that to Aaron," he mumbles.

"He's just sad… but he doesn't blame you. None of us do."

There's another pause. The others mutter behind them, passing out food and blankets, talking quietly.

"He was just a kid," Walt whispers. "He didn't know what he was getting into. I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have brought him here, he didn't know – "

Clementine interrupts him. "He _knew_," she insists. "Walt, remember: Charlie grew up on a boat – he knew _exactly_ what he was doing."

Walt looks at her through the dark, searching her face, trying to convince himself that's telling him the truth.

She touches his shoulder, lightly. "Remember what Ji Yeon said. We all chose this. What happens to us isn't your fault."

He continues to look at her, searching her face, trying to read it. Did she mean what she said, or was hse just trying to make him feel better?

"Walt..." she says, softly, her hand still on his shoulder. "It's okay. All this," she says, gesturing around them, "is going to work out. You wait, in the end, everything will be how it's supposed to be."

Walt can't help but grin. "You seem sure."

Clementine sighs. "This is how I see it - whatever happened, happened. We can't change that. But, in the end, things always work out how they're supposed to be, you know?"

"Like fate?"

"Yeah. Kinda like fate. Something things are just... supposed to be."

(And Walt wonder, with Clementine still touching him, sitting so close to him, if _this_ is what's supposed to be.)

She slowly takes her hand away, her fingers brushing lightly along his arm for the briefest moment.

"Now…let's finally get this going."

Walt looks confused.

"The fire, idiot."

--- * --- * ---

It takes a while, but eventually they get a fire blazing. Walt smiles to himself. Somehow, it feels like quite an accomplishment.

They sit huddled up in the jungle clearing, eating what little they think they can spare and trying very hard not to think about what they had heard the night before.

Clementine sits next to Aaron. She wraps an arm around his shoulders and kisses the top of his head. He just stares blankly ahead into the fire.

"We should try to get some sleep," Alice says after a while.

Julian nods and moves to put out the fire, but something stops him. "Did you hear that?" he asks suddenly, looking around.

They all look up.

"Hear what?" Megan asks.

_"Ist es sie?"_

_"Ja erkenne ich den Leiter. Er war hier vor." _

_"Pas ici! C'est le Territoire Foncé."_

_"Be quiet."_

"That!" Julian hisses, freezing.

No one speaks, each straining to hear anything out of the ordinary.

_"It's them!"_

_"I knew they'd come here."_

_"Regard! Le Petit Prince!"_

_"Partir! Partir! Vous ne pouvez pas rester ici!"_

"They're whispering," Ji Yeon breathes softly, her heart hammering madly against her chest.

Walt holds a finger up to his lips.

For another hour they sit, listening. But the whispers don't come back.

Finally, Julian looks around at them. "Anyone else for letting the fire burn all night?"

--- * --- * ---

No one sleeps that night.

Exhausted and sore, the seven of them get up with the sun, ready to start a new day of trekking. Walt reminds everyone that, under no circumstances, can anyone go out on their own. No one seems to mind this rule.

Each of them find a job to do, and Julian offers to go find more dead word for their fire. He drags Aaron – the only person who didn't seem to be busy – with him.

A little ways away from the clearing they stop and begin to pick up the twigs and sticks that litter the ground.

"What do you think that was last night?" Julian asks.

Aaron shrugs.

"It was weird," he goes on. "Sounded German… and there was definitely some French in there. Do any of us speak French?"

Aaron bends down and grabs a stick.

"Littleton? Littleton, did you _hear_ me?"

Aaron doesn't answer.

"_Damn it_, will you _wake up_ when I'm talking to you?" Julian cries, suddenly.

Aaron snaps out of his daze. "What?"

Julian just shakes his head, angrily. "Never mind."

Aaron narrows his eyes. "Sorry," he spits. "I can't help if I get distracted."

"Oh, lost in your own deep, dark thoughts, are you?"

"Just _shut up_," Aaron cries, angry. Julian's horrible, sarcastic tone reminds Aaron of every reason he's ever hated him before.

But Julian isn't done. Things he's been thinking for three days now suddenly need to come out – that, or he might hit Aaron. And the last thing he needs is an angry Clementine.

"No," Julian goes on, hotly, "I'm done with tip-toeing around you; I'm done with making sure we all leave Little Aaron alone!"

Aaron takes a step toward him. "Just because _you're_ incapable of actually feeling anything – "

"We all went through what you went through!" Julian cries, dropping the wood that he had clutched in his arms. "We _all_ feel the way you feel, dumbass!"

"You have no idea how I feel," Aaron snarled.

"We all think about Charlie and – "

Something somewhere clicked inside Aaron when he heard that name. "Carlson," he nearly growled, "I'm warning you. Shut your mouth, or I'll –"

"You'll what? Hit me? Go ahead. Just make sure you do it in front of everyone else, okay?"

"What?" Aaron cries, taking another menacing step forward. "Above fighting, are you? Want to make sure Walt's there to pull me off of you?"

"I want her to see something other then a vacant expression on your face!"

"I – _what_?"

Julian lowers his voice, his face no longer harsh and angry. He runs his hand through his hair, trying to calm himself down. He hates when he lets himself get over emotional (but somehow Aaron always brings out the worst in him). "You are infuriatingly dim, Littleton. Don't you realize how it's destroying her to see you like this?"

Aaron cocks his head to the side, completely confused. "Who… what…?"

"But of course you don't!" Julian goes on, ignoring Aaron's incoherent spluttering. "Can't see past the little hole of heroic sadness you've crawled into, can you?" He sighs, again trying to calm himself. "She thought you two were really close on the boat," he continues. "She told you things I expect she'd never told anyone else. How she _really_ feels about things. And you knew how she felt about you, what she thought –"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Aaron snapped, not wanting to hear anymore.

"She's scared!"

"We're all scared!"

"Yeah, but _she'll_ never admit it. She's thrown up that wall again and as much as it _pisses me off_, I know _you're_ the only one she'll let through."

Aaron blinks stupidly a few times. "Well… what am I supposed to do?"

"Not curl up and die for a start."

"I never – "

"Since the boat sank you haven't said more then five words to anyone. You just sit, brooding, while we're all off doing something productive – we're off _trying_. Maybe everyone else can deal with that, but I've had it!"

Aaron throws his feeble pile of wood down, too. "Damnit, Julian, I'm sorry you've 'had it' with me being useless!"

"I've _had it_ with the way she looks at you! Like _you've_ died, too!"

Aaron doesn't say anything. He curls his hands into angry fists.

"Still gunna hit me?" Julian says, darkly.

Aaron glares at him for another moment, without really seeing him; instead he thinks of her and finally realizes just how selfish he's been.

He storms off without another word, furious with the fact that it was _Julian_ who had made him realize this.

* * *

Megan grabs Walt's arm. "Look!" she hisses. "There, through the trees. _People_!"

Walt stops and looks, grabbing the handle of the knife in his belt. "Where? I don't see anyone."

Everyone else has stopped, waiting.

"I swear I saw them!" she whispers. "They're following us!"

"Of course they are," says Alice, calmly.

Walt turns to her. "Why don't they come to us? Why are they hiding?"

"You of all people should understand that, Walt. You don't just walk up to a group of armed strangers you don't know. They're watching us. Scoping us out." She turns back to the rest of them. "Come on," she says, "we should cover a bit more ground before dark."

"Why?" Julian mumbles, hitching his backpack into a more comfortable position. "If they're already found us, let's just sit here and wait for them to find the stones to come talk to us."

"No," Alice answers. "It'll look odd if we do that; we don't want them suspicious. We need to look like we have a purpose." (And, though the others may not know it, Alice _does_ have a purpose. She grasps the straps of her backpack tightly.)

They walk on, but Walt looks back through the trees where Megan had pointed, wondering just who had found them. Was it someone he knew?

He can't help but wonder if they knew who he was if they'd say something.

_It's me_, he thinks desperately, _it's Walt_.

* * *

_"It's a watch," Walt said, for what felt like the millionth time, "a silver watch. With writing on the back – in Korean."_

_The owner of the pawn shop chewed slowly on a toothpick. A little television flickered in the corner behind the counter. "A silver watch, did you say?"_

_"Yes!" Walt cried, annoyed. "Do you have it?"_

_The owner continued to chew, then he bent down behind the counter and pulled out a glittering golden watch. "This it?"_

_"No!"_

_"You want it?"_

_Walt rolled his eyes. "No – I want _that_ watch!"_

_"You sure you don't want this one? I'll give you a discount, since I can see you're a serious buyer."_

_But Walt wasn't listening to him anymore. His eyes were glued on the television. "Turn that up," he ordered._

_"It appears that five of the six infamous Oceanic Six were also aboard Ajira flight 316," the newscaster said, stacking his papers neatly in front of him. In the corner above him a silent video played of the Oceanic Six's first interview._

_"Yeah, you heard about that?" the owner asked._

_Walt shook his head. "What happened?"_

_The owner leaned over the counter. "Well, seems them Oceanic Six are missing again – except that little kid. What was his name again…?"_

_"Aaron," Walt said, automatically, eyes still fixed on the screen._

_"Yes, that's it. Well, the rest of 'em are all gone again. Another disappeared planed – you believe that?" he laughs, excitedly._

_"Yeah…" Walt muttered, "I believe that."_

_"So," the owner continued, "what's the verdict on the watch?"_

_Walt looked from the owner, to the television, to the watch. He shook his head, shoved his hand in his pocket and left, leaving the pawn shop and walking down the dark New York street._

_So they had gone again._

_He knew where._

_But they hadn't brought him with them._

_That was a mistake, he knew. _

* * *

It's late, but no one sleeps. Every sits, lost in their own thoughts, listening hard for any sound of the whispers.

Aaron sits on his own, absently twirling his gun around.

"Thought you might be hungry."

He looks up to see Ji Yeon sit down next to him, her long dark hair pulled back. She hands him a tin of soup.

"Thanks," he mutters.

"So…" she says carefully, "how are you?"

He wants to tell her he's terrible – he hates it here, with the bugs and the heat and the sleepless nights; he hates being constantly afraid, of jumping at every noise he hears; he misses his grandmother; he misses his friend.

But he doesn't. Julian's annoyingly pompous voice rings in his ears.

"I'm fine," he lies.

And he smiles at her.

She beams back at him.

He feels like a hero.

"It's mad here, isn't it?" she says, as conversationally as she can manage.

Aaron nods. "Yeah. It's pretty scary."

"Don't worry," Ji Yeon says, puffing out her chest bravely. "I'll take care of you."

He smiles. "You got my back, Ji?"

"I got your back," she says, smilling back.

They talk for hours. And it's nice. Nice not to be so wrapped up in the gloom of everything; nice to see a shining ray of light at the end of this long, horrible dark tunnel.

"You know," Ji Yeon says after a while. "I wasn't the person I wanted to be before this. But Walt told me that everyone gets a new life on this Island." She reachs out and grabs his hand (and his heart skips a beat). "If it's all right with you, I'd like to start mine now."

Aaron knots her fingers through her's. "Yeah. Me, too."

And in the dark, under the canopy of trees, she leans over and kisses him.

* * *

They walk on and on. And on.

It's slow going. Megan can't go for very long. Everyone begins to get nervous as they realize that her baby is coming – soon.

Now they do have a purpose: find that hospital.

The only problem is no one knows where it is.

"And you're _sure_ you've never been there?" Alice asks Walt for the hundredth time.

"I've told you, _yes_. And _you're_ sure it actually exists?"

"I've told you, _yes_."

"Let's take a break," Clementine says, holding Megan's arm and helping her sit down.

Walt nods. "Fine. We can stay here for the rest of the day. Aaron, Ji Yeon, can you two look for some fruit out here? I want to save as much of our supplies as possible."

The two nod and leave as Julian takes a seat beside Megan, his face impassive.

"I'll grab some fire wood," Clementine says, hooking her gun through her belt.

"Don't go far," Megan calls after her.

Walt and Alice sit with Julian and Megan, as Walt pulls some water bottles out of his pack for them. The rest drink, gratefully.

"So," Julian says, after draining half his bottle. He smacks a fly away from him. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

Walt shakes his head. "I defiantly never got this far into the jungle."

"But," Megan whispers, leaning forward, "are we still being followed?"

Alice nods. "I think so."

"I don't see why we don't just talk to them," Julian says, bitterly.

"It would be better then all this walking," Megan admits.

"It would," Alice agrees, "if they were the people we want to be following us. I'm still not sure they are."

"You mean they're not the Six?" Megan asks.

Alice shrugs. "I'm not sure yet."

"Then there are others?" Julian asks.

Walt nods gravely.

"Why don't we talk to them?" Julian goes on. "It's not like we want to kill them. We don't mean any harm. We just want to talk."

Walt shakes his head. "I don't trust anyone on this Island that isn't one of the Six or someone I'm _positive_ was on 815. You shouldn't, either."

Megan looks confused.

Walt sighs. "When I was here," he begins, heavily, "there were these people… _other_ people… and they – "

"_HELP_!"

Everyone freezes, their eyes wide, staring out into the trees.

"Who…?" Alice begins.

But Walt is already on his feet. "_Clementine_."

The other three jump us as well.

Walt grabs Alice's wrist. "You with me," he orders.

Julian is already running in Clementine's direction.

Walt shakes his head. "Go with Megan. Find Aaron. Don't loose each other."

Julian doesn't question him. He nods as Megan grabs his arm, and they take off in the other direction. Megan pulls out her gun.

Walt and Alice run as hard as they can in the direction of Clementine's cry. Sticks and twigs cut their faces as they rush past, weeds and thorns slashing their ankles.

But still they run.

"_Help!_ _Help!"_ The shouts are louder now.

"_Clementine_!" Walt roars, looking around wildly. "Clementine, where are you?"

"Walt! Help!"

The panic and terror in her voice is enough to make even Alice's hair stand on end.

Something is crashing in the jungle behind them.

They ignore it and run on.

Finally, they see her.

Clementine in flat on the jungle floor, her arms flung out in front of her, clutching wildly – hopelessly – at the logs and plants the fly past her.

Something is pulling her backwards.

Walt's heart stops.

_The monster_.

He runs after her, screaming her name as she's dragged away, blood and tears streaming down her face.

The crashing behind him gets louder. He realizes that everyone else must have caught up with them, but it hardly registers.

"Clementine!" someone cries behind him.

Aaron runs so quickly he's nearly beside Walt.

"Help me, please!" she cries.

But the monster has her. It suddenly begins to disappear into a hole, pulling Clementine down with it.

It's not until then that they realize the whole had been an entrance. A huge, stone wall stands in front of them.

With one last, heart-wrenching scream that rang out through the jungle, piercing everyone who had been running after her, Clementine is gone.

* * *

_"The Island has many dark secrets that I've been studying for years. But, even so, I don't know half of what it has to offer."_

_"And that's why you need me?" Walt asked. _

_Alice Faraday nodded. "Partly, yes."_

_"Oh, right, I forgot. I have to cross the globe, finding everyone who's related to the people who were on Flight 815 and convince them to leave their lives behind and come with us to the Island."_

_"Yes."_

_"Wonderful."_

_She cleared her throat. "Can we get back to talking about the Island?"_

_"What do you want to know?"_

_"What can you tell me?"_

_"No much," he admitted. "I wasn't there long."_

_"Yes. You're father bartered his and your escape with the other people who inhabited the Island, right?"_

_Walt lowered his head. "Yeah."_

_"Tell me what you know about the Dharma Initiative," she ordered, a pen in her hand._

_"The what?"_

_Alice sorted through some papers. "They were a science group. They had stations set up on the Island, and on the smaller one near by."_

_"There was another island?" Walt asked, shocked._

_Alice didn't look up from her papers. "Clearly you know less then I had anticipated."_

_"Sorry," Walt mumbled._

_"This is very important, Walt. I know it was many years ago, but think back. Did you ever hear of a place called 'The Orchid'?"_

_Walt shook his head. "The Orchid...? Like the flower?"_

_"Yes. It was one of the stations. Do you know about it?"_

_"No."_

_"All right then," she said, looking back up at him. Her voice is calm and steady, though Walt can tell she was excited. Clearly, she'd been waiting for this for a long time. "Tell me what you _do_ remember."_

_"Well…" he began, slowly. "I don't know much about this 'dark secrets' business…but there was this… _thing_." He shook his head. "You're not gunna believe me."_

_"Try me."_

_Walt leans forward, his face set and serious. "There was a monster."_

* * *

Aaron is already pushing past Walt, trying to follow Clementine down the dark tunnel. Walt holds out his arm to stop him.

Aaron pushes him away. "Get away! We have to follow her! We have to save her!"

Walt looks around wildly, as if hoping to find help, to find a miracle.

"Where'd she go?" Ji Yeon shrieks.

"In there!" Aaron cries. Walt is now physically holding him back.

"Look at where we are!" Walt yells. "Look at this place! Take a moment and think this through!"

"She's _in_ there! We have to get her!"

And Walt knows he's right.

"Let me go," Walt says. "_You_ stay here."

"No! Let go of me, Walt! Let go!"

Ji Yeon grabs Aaron's arm, trying to help Walt. "What is this place?" she asks Walt, looking up at the stone wall.

"I have no idea."

Julian walks up to them, his eyes raking over the wall in front of him, then down at the whole where Clementine had disappeared.

"I'm going after her!" Walt cries. "You guys _stay out here_. Stay _together_."

"No!" Aaron yells, still struggling.

Walt looks at him. He knows the very last thing in the world Clementine would want would be for Aaron to be in danger. And Aaron is important. If they ever did meet the Six, it would be Aaron that would put them in their good graces.

(He was one of them, after all.)

But Aaron's mind is made up as he turns to look at Walt. He's going down there, whether Walt wants him to or not.

"Fine," Walt says, letting go. "We'll both go."

"No!" Ji Yeon cries, still holding onto Aaron's arm.

"It's his choice," Walt tries to explain. "If he wants –"

Ji Yeon furrows her brow. "That's not what I meant. I meant it's not just _you two_ who get to go."

"You _want_ to go in there?"

Ji Yeon nods.

"We should all go," Megan pipes up. "What if we need –?"

"No, not you," Walt says. He looks from Megan to the hole, desperate to go and find Clementine, but unable to let the others put themselves in this kind of danger.

They didn't _understand_ the way he did. This place wasn't _normal_.

Julian nods and Walt is unbelievably grateful that someone is backing him up. "Not you," he says, echoing Walt.

"I want to help!" she cries.

"You'll slow us down," he says, coldly.

It doesn't even occur to Walt that Julian has also made up his mind to save Clementine.

"I… I won't…" Megan splutters.

"You will. Now, let's go."

"Someone needs to stay with her," Walt says.

"I will," Alice pipes up.

"Fine! Enough talking! Let's just _go_!" Aaron cries.

And, hand in hand with Ji Yeon, he steps into the dark that had swallowed up the closest thing he had to family.

Julian follows, steely and steady. And terrified.

Tears flow down Megan's face. "Let me help, Walt," she begs. "She just can't… not _Clementine_…"

"Stay here," Walt says, kindly. He touches her arm lightly and tries to smile. "We're going to get her. She'll be fine. Miracles, remember?"

Megan inhales shakily.

Walt turns and leaves. Before he does, he takes a look behind him. At his Island.

He meets Alice's eyes.

And they both know he's not coming out.

He nods at her.

She nods back.

Then he turns and follows the others underneath the Temple.


	10. The Bomb

**Chapter Nine: _The Bomb_**

_"I'm sorry because no matter what I try to do you're going to die, Charlie." - Desmond, "Flashes Before Your Eyes", season three_

_They ran hand in hand from the courthouse, giggling like school children. _

_They stopped in the park nearby and he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her. She sighed happily and leaned her head against his chest._

_"Are you disappointed we didn't have a big wedding?" he asked her (for the fifteenth time that day)._

_She shook her head and smiled (that beautiful smile that still gives him butterflies). "How many times do I have to tell you, love? Eloping is much more romantic."_

_He raised his eyebrows and touched her belly. "It also doesn't hurt that the timing is right."_

_She giggled. "No, that doesn't hurt." _

"_Thought of any names yet?" he asked her._

_She shrugged. "A few."_

_They walked hand in hand, found a bench and took a seat. She leaned her head on his shoulder, playing with the brand new wedding ring on her finger._

_"Well," he said, "I know you think it's more 'romantic', but I'm still sorry your family couldn't be there."_

_She laughed. __"You know what my mother would say about me marrying an American."_

_He laughed, too. "What about Seth or a boy?" he asked._

_She wrinkled her nose. "No."_

_"Martin?"_

_"No way!"_

_"Why? Martin's a great name!"_

_"No son of mine will be named 'Martin'."_

_He sighed. "Fine. What if we have a girl? How about Rachel?"_

_She shrugged. "That's all right, I guess. Better then 'Martin', anyhow."_

_"Alice?"_

_She took her head off of his shoulder. "Yeah. I like that one."_

_"Well," he smiled, "I'm glad we finally agree on something."_

_She grinned at him. He grinned back, goofily. "I love you, Dan," she laughed._

* * *

The two women waited outside the Temple for hours.

Megan is crying into her hands.

"Try and relax," Alice says, though there's no comfort in her voice. She just wants Megan to be quiet.

"But you heard them!" she sobs. "They were calling for help!"

Alice shakes her head. "That wasn't them."

"How do you know?"

"We've been over this," Alice sighs. "I don't _know_ it. But I'm quite sure. And I'm rarely wrong."

Megan stands up, glaring down at Alice. "Fine. I don't care, I'm going down there. You can stay here."

Alice just shakes her head. "Megan, you are nine months pregnant and only one person. What makes you think you can succeed where four very able bodied people didn't?"

"You think I'm useless as well! Just like Julian and Walt!"

Alice rolls her eyes. "Sit down and stop shouting."

Megan wipes her eyes, furious. "Why?" she demands. "Because I'm not capable of even _standing_ without help?"

"Because being so agitated isn't good for the baby."

Megan collapses back onto the ground, her face buried in her hands again.

"Stop crying."

Megan's shoulders still shake. "Th-they're dead!" she wails.

Alice stands up, brushing the dirt off her jeans. "Right. Have you finally accepted that?"

Megan looks up at her, angrier then she can ever remember being. "You don't think there's any hope, do you? You think they're dead, that there's no chance that they'll – "

"They wouldn't leave us guessing for this long," Alice explains. "One of them would have come up to tell us something."

"How do you kn-know?" Megan asks, unsteadily.

Alice picks up her bag and slings it over her shoulder. "Because Aaron would have found _any_ reason to send Ji Yeon back out to us. You know how he feels about her. And Walt didn't want Aaron to go in the first place. He would have tried to send Aaron back."

"Neither of them would have come," Megan mutters, wiping her eyes again. "And what if they're hurt? You heard those calls. Julian said 'help me'."

"Don't be so sure that was Julian," Alice says, darkly.

Megan closes her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"He didn't mean it," Alice says, gently. Megan looks up at her. "Julian," Alice continues. "What he said, that you'd slow them down. He just didn't want you to go in there. He was trying to protect you."

Megan looks up at her, her shining eyes pleading. "They can't _all_ be _dead_," she whispers hoarsely. "I have to go and…"

"If they are dead, then they died making sure you and your baby were safe. I'm not going to have them die in vain because you felt guilty," Alice says, shortly. She offers Megan her hand. "Now, let's leave."

Megan takes it, pulling herself up. "Why? Shouldn't we stay and see if…"

"I don't want you to be tempted to go in," she explains, gathering the few things she can manage to carry.

Megan helps her, picking up her own bag. "Yeah…" she mutters under her breath, "_and_ you're scared here."

"That, too."

* * *

"Alice, what's in that backpack?"

Megan jogs a few steps top keep up with Alice. They've decided to keep moving. The idea was to find the hospital before Megan went into labour, but the chances of that were getting slimmer and slimmer each day that passed.

Alice stops, looking through the trees. "What do you think about moving out of the jungle? There are some clear hills up there. We could see more from there. Maybe get our bearings."

Megan stops beside her. "You didn't answer my question."

"You didn't answer mine," Alice retorts. "And mine is much more important."

Megan sighs, frustrated. "Fine. Anything to get out of these trees," she mutters, as the two start to move again. There's a moment's silence as the two struggle over a particularly large log. "It's just," Megan continues, "you've been hanging onto that thing since we were on the boat. I can't remember seeing you without it on the Island. But you never open it."

"When I need what's in it, I'll open it."

"Well… what _is_ in it?"

Alice rolls her eyes. "Why don't you just trust me, Megan? If I didn't need it, I wouldn't lug it around."

Megan laughs, a little bitterly. "_Trust_ you?"

"I'm sorry, did I say something amusing?"

"Well," Megan says, stopping to take a drink from her water bottle. "You're not very forthcoming with information, are you? Really," she goes on, "I don't even know why you're here. You weren't related to anyone on the plane, were you?"

"Nor was Charlie," Alice points out.

"Yah, but his dad was here. You said so yourself."

"But he's not anymore. Charlie left his parents to come here. In the end, our motivations are irrelevant. Come on," Alice continues, "we can rest near that little stream up there."

"It was just a question, you know," Megan says, as the two begin to walk again.

"Sorry?"

"About what was in your pack. You didn't have to get all defensive. I just asked a question."

"I'm not being defensive," Alice retorts. "I'm just choosing not to answer."

"One of these days," Megan mutters, "you're going to have to start trusting me."

"I do trust you," Alice assures her.

"Then tell me."

"You don't want to know."

"Try me."

"It's a bomb."

Megan laughs.

"I'm serious."

Megan stops short. "A _what_?"

"A bomb," Alice repeats, calmly. "C4. Explosives."

Megan looks at her, absolutely horrified. "You... you have a _bomb_?"

Alice shakes her head. "See," she says, beginning to walk again. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you."

"But… _why_? _Why_ do you have it?"

"You asked," Alice says, smoothly, "why I decided to come to the Island." Megan doesn't say anything, so Alice goes on. "I'm here, with _this_, to finish something. Finish what my parents started."

* * *

_Alice was seven years old when her mother died._

_It was an aneurism, the doctors had said. Something to do with her brain. _

_Her father didn't seem to believe them._

_Two days after Charlotte had died, Alice found her father scribbling equations into a journal._

"_Daddy?" she said softly. "Daddy, do you want me to make some dinner?"_

_Daniel looked up, startled to see Alice there. "No, sweetheart, no. I'll do it. Just give me a minute."_

_Alice slid on to the sofa beside him. "What are you writing? Maybe I can help."_

_Daniel smiled down at his daughter. "No, I'm not sure you can help this time."_

"_What are you writing?"_

_Daniel sighed, putting his pen down and looking over his work. "I'm trying to figure something out."_

_Alice rested her head on her father's shoulder. "What are you working on this time?"_

"_Time."_

"_You're always working on 'time'," Alice pointed out._

"_Yeah…" Daniel sighed. "But this time… this time I'm trying to make all the work I've done…wrong."_

_Alice looked up, confused. "You _want_ all you're old work to be wrong?" _

"_Yes. Very, very much."_

* * *

Megan takes off her socks and shoes and dips her sore feet into the stream. She sighs, running a hand over her stomach, absently thinking over names for the baby. She's quite sure it's a girl. Her eyes wander over the forest in front of her. She squints at something that looks out of place in the underbrush – something small and white and blue.

"Alice," she calls, "come over here a minute."

Alice stands beside her.

"What d'you reckon that is?" she asks, pointing at the thing.

Alice leaves Megan and walks a few paces into the jungle. She comes back holding a shoe.

Megan looks up at her, confused. "Is it your's?" she asks.

Alice shakes her head, staring down at the sneaker in her hand. "No. It's a man's. It's… _Walt's_."

"Walt's?" Megan repeats. Her face lights up. "Maybe he's nearby! Maybe he got out! Alice, help me up! We've got to look for him! We got to…" Megan struggles to lift herself off the ground, one hand still over her stomach. "Walt!" she cries through the trees. "_Walt_!"

"Are you _mad_?" Alice hisses, placing a hand firmly on Megan's shoulder and forcing her back down.

"What?" Megan asks. "If it's Walt's shoe, then…"

"It must have come off just before he went into that tunnel, when he was struggling with Aaron. An animal must have carried it here."

All the hope that had built up in Megan started faded away. "But… wh-what if he's alive?"

"Or," says Alice, glancing darkly around the jungle, "it was planted here. Maybe someone is trying to lure us somewhere."

"Oh Alice, please don't say that."

Alice moves back to the fire she had built. "We can't afford to be naïve, Megan."

Night fell, and the two women sat quietly near the stream, both too agitated (or frightened) by the appearance of Walt's shoe to sleep.

"You say there are people here?" Megan asks Alice. "Armed people?"

Alice nods.

"Then maybe it's safer if we stay in the trees after all - stay hidden. Do you think?"

"Don't forget," Alice reasons, "we're armed, as well."

Megan looks down, skeptically, at the gun she's tucked into her pants. "Still… if it comes down to fighting or hiding, I choose hiding."

"If you want to stay in there and let that thing eat you, be my guest. But I'm getting out of here."

Megan narrows her eyes, looking horrified back at Alice through the dark. "Is that what it does, then?" she asks, barely above a whisper. "_Eat_ people?"

"I have no idea what it does," Alice says, taking the safety off her gun as she surveyed the dark trees around her. "But I don't want to be around to find out."

Megan looks over at her, almost pityingly. "I've never seen you so scared before."

"Well," Alice muttered, darkly, "maybe I have good reason to be scared."

* * *

"_You mean… I'm not supposed to _exist_?"_

_Eloise Hawking sat across from her teenager granddaughter, beginning to wonder whether or not it was too soon to try and explain all this._

"_Yes," Eloise said, slowly. "in a sense."_

"_But… I do exist! I'm right here!"_

"_Yes," said Eloise, calmly. "Yes, but you shouldn't be. The choices your parents made have altered things."_

_Alice squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples. "All right," she said, slowly. "Go through it once more. What did Mum and Dad do?"_

_Eloise leaned forward. "There are many blank spots in what has happened, dear, even for me. It is very hard to explain."_

_Alice opened her eyes and stared at her grandmother. "Try," she ordered._

_Eloise paused, then nodded. "Your father and mother met in 2004 on a freighter on its way to and island in the South Pacific."_

"_They met much earlier then that," Alice interrupted._

"_Yes, they did. The second time. But the first time, they met on that boat. Something happened," Eloise continued, "on that Island. Something that shifted time."_

"_Shifted it? How exactly?"_

_Eloise sighed. "You have to understand, dear, that this is no ordinary island. Its properties make it something of a scientific marvel. There are pockets of energy that are very powerful and very dangerous. Two of them in particular – "_

"_How do you know all this?" Alice interjected again._

_Eloise closed her eyes for a moment. "I used to live there," she said, softly. "For a long while, the Island was my home."_

"_All right…then, was one of these 'pockets' disturbed somehow?"_

"_Yes. Disturbing the energy on the Island is extremely dangerous and can have horrible consequences. But it happened."_

"_And time moved?" Alice guessed._

_Her grandmother nodded. "Yes. It moved. And the people on the Island – including Daniel –"_

"_And my mother," Alice put in._

"_Yes," Eloise muttered, "and your mother…they moved along with it."_

"_So… how could they be on the Island _and_ married off of it, with me?" _

"_This is exactly what I have been working on for the last ten years. And what you will have to work on, once I'm gone."_

_Alice shook her head. "Just… explain once more…"_

"_Time shifted. Something on the Island shifted it. When it shifted, your parents made different decisions then they did the first time. This was most unusual – whatever happened, happened. But your parents found each other earlier then was intended. And they had you."_

"_So… I exist… in some sort of separate time?"_

"_No. Not exactly. But, you see, the universe has a way of course correcting itself. Well all have a destiny, Alice. We all have an end destination and, no matter what we do, we will end there."_

_Alice didn't like this idea at all, but she let her grandmother continue._

"_You parents both died on the Island."_

_Alice furrowed her brow. "How do you know?"_

_Eloise hesitated for a moment, a memory flicking across her mind. "Because they died here, as well."_

_Alice's face lit up. "That doesn't mean they died on the Island! They could still be alive there… if I can find it, maybe I can rescue them! Maybe I can –"_

"_They are dead."_

"_But how can you be _sure_?"_

"_Because… I killed Daniel. I killed him nearly forty years ago now."_

_Alice tried not to let her confusion show. "But… that would mean he died when he was a baby… how could…"_

"_Time, remember Alice, was disturbed. Your father traveled back in time – back to when I was living on the Island. He had a gun on one of my men. And I reacted. I did not know who he was," she added, very quietly._

_Alice inhaled deeply, trying very hard to understand. "If you knew you killed him… couldn't you have stopped him from going to the Island in the first place, thirty years after? Couldn't you have saved him?"_

"_We all have our end destination, Alice. Who was I to upset delicate balance of…"_

_Alice was suddenly on her feet. "You _let_ him go back? To die? You always knew?" she cried. "And… and that's why he'd dead now! Dad died because he died on the Island! There were two of him… the one I knew and the one on the Island… but one couldn't exist without the other, right?"_

_Eloise nodded, gravely. _

"_So you sent him to be killed!" Alice raved on._

"_Sit down, you stupid girl," Eloise snapped. "Do you really think I'd send my son to his death if there was no chance of changing what had happened?"_

_Alice stared back at her grandmother. Slowly, she took her seat again. "We can save him?" she asked, quietly. "How?"_

_Eloise put her head down. "I'm not sure."_

_Alice crossed her arms, angrily. "Oh, well that's very helpful."_

_Eloise ignored her. "That's what you're going to have to figure out."_

* * *

Megan still isn't used to sleeping on the ground. She rolls over, trying in vain to find a comfortable position, and forcing herself not to worry, not to be scared. She forces herself not to remember that all her friends are dead.

She stares blankly out into the dark trees around and sighs.

Then she sees Walt.

She sits up and screams.

He puts a finger to his lips.

Something's different about him – he's young, maybe ten years old. And he's soaking wet.

"W-walt?" she gasps. She tries to get up, to move toward him.

He shakes his head, slowly.

"_Yas I drow a ot netsil t'nod_," he whispers, hoarsly.

"Wh-what? I… I don't…" Her voices falters as she stares at him, wide eyed. He speaks again.

"_Gniyl m'I_"

Walt starts to back away, fading into the dark jungle behind him.

"No, no, no!" Megan cries. "Walt, wait!"

"_Nur – em ees uoy nehw_."

He's nearly gone.

"Wait! Walt, come back! Come here! Walt! _Walt_!"

A rough hand is on her shoulder, pushing her down.

She screams.

"Megan! Wake up!"

Megan's eyes flutter open. She gasps, sweating.

Slowly, the shapes around her come into focus. Alice is sitting above her.

"You were dreaming," she explains. "I would have left you, but you were so loud – I didn't want to draw attention to ourselves."

"I – I wasn't dr-dreaming," Megan pants. "It was… it was Walt!"

Alice sighs. "I know. I heard you shouting his name."

"He was right there!" she cries, pointing to the trees.

"No he wasn't. You were only thinking of his because we found his shoe. You were hoping – "

"It was real!" Megan shrieks.

"Calm down," Alice snaps. "You want to go into labour right now? After you've drawn everyone and everything on the Island to us?"

Megan narrows her eyes. "You don't believe me," she says, quietly.

"Oh course I don't. You have a history of nightmares, don't you? And I've read pregnant woman – "

"I saw Walt," she says, firmly. "I saw him, I saw him, I saw him."

"Well then, what did he say?"

Megan pauses, thinking back. "I… I don't know," Megan admits. "I'm not sure it was English."

"Walt was only fluent in English," Alice says, matter of factly.

Megan knows it will do her no favours if she mentions that Walt looked as if he had lost twenty years.

"Go back to sleep," Alice advises, laying back down herself. "We should move on in the morning."

"Fine, fine, fine," Megan mutters, adjusting her pack under her head. But she can't sleep – she lies awake that night, staring out into the trees, praying Walt would come back.

--- * --- * ---

Megan stirs the next morning, opens her bleary eyes, and sees Alice, sitting straight up, gun in her hand, looking off into the jungle.

Megan sits up. "What is it? Is it Walt? Is he back?"

"_Shhh_," Alice hisses, and there's more then annoyance in her voice – she sounds scared.

Then Megan hears it.

_Tch tch tch tch tch._

Metallic. Grinding.

"It's that thing," she whispers.

Alice nods.

"Can we hide from it?"

Alice shakes her head.

"What can we –"

"We need to get out of the jungle," Alice interrupts. "As soon as possible. We'll head for those hills."

They get up without another word and leave the stream, just as the sun begins to rise over the trees.

"Megan," Alice says, after they've walked in silence for a few minutes. "I want to talk to you about the bomb."

"The bomb?" Megan repeats. "Oh, yeah. Your pack. I knew you were lying about that."

"I wasn't lying."

"Alice, why on Earth would you need to bring a bomb here?"

"That's what I want to talk to you about."

Megan looks at her for a moment, biting her lip, thinking. "It really is a bomb, then?"

"Yes."

"Is this what you and Walt were always whispering about?" she asks. "Is this what Walt thought was in the case of guns?"

"Yes. You said one day I'd have to trust you – and I did. Now I need the same from you. Do you trust me, Megan?"

She hesitates, still looking intently at Alice.

"Do you?"

"Yes," she answers, very quietly.

"Good. Then I need you to listen very carefully."

Megan nods.

"You asked about my motivations for coming here. I told you they were irrelevant – that wasn't entirely true."

"I had assumed it wasn't."

"I came here, with this bomb, to destroy something."

Megan's eyes light up. "That thing? Can you kill it?"

"Oh no," Alice says, very seriously, "that thing, I think, it outside the realm of any real human control."

"How do you know?"

"I don't, I'm guessing. But I'm –"

" – rarely wrong," Megan finished for her. "I know. Go on – what do you need to destroy?"

"First, let me explain something. This Island has special properties, it…"

"Spare me the science lesson," Megan snaps. "If that really _is_ a bomb strapped to you back, I want to know why."

Alice looks half amused, half impressed. "All right. The Island was once use for experiments. The scientists here called themselves The Dharma Initiative. They built stations in various spots around the Island. One of them is the hospital we're looking for; they called it The Staff."

"You want to blow up a hospital?" Megan asks, skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"No. I want to blow up another station. The Orchid."

"Because… you didn't like these scientists?"

"Because it's built over a very large pocket of energy that I'm quite sure effects time."

Megan sighed and rubbed her temple. "Why the hell do you want to blow it up?"

"I believe something like this was attempted many years before, I assume by the Oceanic Six. They blew up another station over an energy pocket – The Swan."

"But when they did it, it didn't work?"

"Oh, it worked. It just didn't do everything they wanted it to."

Megan is mildly curious now. "What did they want it to do?"

"Reset time. Something had… happened."

"What?"

A smirk tugs at Alice's lips. "You wouldn't believe me."

"Alice," Megan sighs, "I'm nine months pregnant on an Island with a monster on it, trekking around with a scientist who has a bomb in her backpack, looking for five people who are supposed to be dead. _Try me_."

Alice full-out smiles. It's the first time Megan had ever seen her do so. "Time travel," Alice said. "The Oceanic Six – or, at least some of them – went back in time. They blew up The Swan to try and reset time. They did, in a way. Everyone made it back to the right time – the time they were supposed to be in. But they were still on the Island. I believe that had attempted to set time back to _before_ they had ever crashed at all."

"How do you know all this?" Megan asked. "And don't tell me you're _guessing_."

Alice smiled again. "I'm not. My grandmother was there."

"She was one of those scientists?"

"No."

"Then who…"

"It's not important."

Megan decides not to push the subject. "So… you think that, by blowing up this other place, time will reset to… when, exactly?"

"To when before things started going wrong."

"Which is…?"

"I'm not sure."

"_Guess_ – you're rarely wrong, after all."

Alice gives a little laugh. "You're more then I expected, Megan," she admits. "I had assumed that you'd be weeping all the time."

Megan stares at her. "Yeah, well," she says after a while, "I would be, but I'm pregnant, and, you know… _hormones_."

Another smile. "I'd guess that time would reset back to before the Oceanic Six ever boarded Flight 815."

Megan nodded, hoping that she could remember all this. "So, why are you sharing all this with me?" she asks.

Alice stops.

Megan stops, too. "What?" she asks, looking around wildly. "Do you see something?"

Alice shakes her head. "Megan, I'm telling you because I need _you_ to do this."

Megan furrows her brow, confused. "Me? Why can't you?"

Alice inhales deeply. "Because, Megan, I'll be dead."

Megan scoffs. "That's not a very positive attitude, Alice!"

"No, I really will be."

Megan's face falls. "How do you know?"

"Because that thing is following us. It has been since we got here."

Megan doesn't say anything, she just shakes her head. Finally, she says, "but you can't know it's going to kill you."

"It killed the others," Alice points out.

"Oh, please don't say that."

"They _are_ dead, Megan. There's no other way around it."

Megan's lip quivers, but she steadies herself. "But then, wouldn't it be after me, too? If it wants _everyone_, how do you know it won't kill _me_, too?"

"I'm guessing again."

"_Explain_," Megan demands.

"I don't know what that thing _is_, but I have an idea of what it _does_ – it keeps everything in balance. The people who are meant to be here, stay, the people who aren't, it takes. We weren't supposed to come here, Megan. The Island didn't bring us here."

"How can an Island bring…"

"It's a very special Island, Megan."

"Yes, but then why is it after _you_? Why not me?" she insists.

"_I_ shouldn't be here."

"No less then I should!"

"No, you misunderstand me. I should be _anywhere_. My parents were on this Island at the same time they were off it. When time split – when things changed – my parents made different choices then they did the first time around. They were in two different places at once. I'm the result."

"That's impossible," Megan says, hoarsely.

"Yes, it is. It had to be fixed."

"How can you _fix_ that?"

"My parents died. I assume that the Island made sure they died."

"You mean that monster got them?"

"Maybe."

Megan shakes her head. "We should keep walking," she says. "Those hills aren't far now."

"I'm not going to the hills."

"Alice, please, this is ridiculous."

"You said you trusted me," Alice points out, coolly.

Megan closed her eyes and sighed. "How do you know all this? How can you possibly know?"

"The universe has a way of course correcting itself. Things will happen as they're supposed to. My parents couldn't be in two places at once, so that was fixed. We aren't supposed to be on the Island, so that was fixed as well. But not entirely."

"Is that why you stayed out with me?" Megan asked, softly. "Because you knew what that would happen?"

Alice pauses. "Yes."

"But… but, but," Megan splutters, angrily. "why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you stop them?" she cries.

"Do you really think I could have stopped any of them?" Alice asks. "They were going in there one way or another. Walt and Aaron went in for Clementine. And Ji Yeon went in for Aaron. There's was no way of –"

"But not Julian!" Megan cries. "You could have saved Julian, but you chose not to!"

"Julian may have acted cold and distant, but he wanted to play the hero just as much as the others did," Alice snaps. "He was going in."

"He wasn't playing," Megan hisses.

"It doesn't matter. He was going in, one way or another."

Megan is quiet for a moment, steadying herself. She wants to be calm for the baby, but she also knows that if she looses her head – like she do desperately wants to – she'll never get anywhere with Alice. "That still doesn't explain," Megan continues, "why the thing won't go for me."

"You're not a threat," Alice says. "You won't harm the Island. It has no reason to hurt you."

"But the rest of you were threats?"

"The group of us was. We were looking for the Six, tromping through the jungle, armed and hostile toward anyone who wasn't on 815. And me? I'm not supposed to be here. But you? You wouldn't hurt a fly if you could help it. And you're pregnant, which doesn't hurt. So no, I don't think it will hurt you."

"And it doesn't know that you want me to-to _blow up_ a building?"

"It can't read minds."

"Are you sure?"

Alice thinks. "No, I suppose I'm not."

"Alice, please just – "

Alice shakes her head. "Are you going to do this for me or not?"

"What – blow up this station?"

"Yes."

"No!"

Alice sighs, exasperated.

"Why would I? It's insane!"

"It would bring them back."

Megan blinks, stupidly. "…them?"

"Yes," Alice nods. "All of them: Walt, Aaron, Ji Yeon – even Charlie. They'd be back. They'd be fine. You could save them."

"And so," Megan says, slowly, "if you die now… you'll come back, too?"

"No. No, I'll be gone."

"Alice –"

"But, that's just a guess. And I'm rarely wrong," she smirks.

Despite herself, Megan smiles. "Don't joke. This is serious."

"Yes. It is. Now – will you do this for me? Do you trust me?"

"I… I don't know anything about explosives."

"I've written everything down in a journal. It's actually very simple."

Megan runs her hand over her stomach. "Can't you wait until after… after…"

"No," Alice says, quickly. "The longer I'm near you, the longer I put you and the baby in danger."

"But I'm scared."

"That's okay."

Alice slips off her backpack and gently places it near Megan's feet. "Do it if you want. If not, leave it there. There's a radio tower somewhere on the Island. You can find it, send a message. Something was jamming the signal before, but I don't think it is now."

"Alice… you're not seriously going to let that thing get you, are you?"

"Yes."

"But – "

Alice shakes her head. "You can't stop me, Megan. I'm not asking your permission. I'm going and if you follow me, you'll die. If you blow up The Orchid, you'll save everyone."

"It's not that simple, is it?"

"Oh, no. But that's the jist. Goodbye, Megan."

Megan took two hurried steps toward Alice and threw her arms around her neck. "I hate you Alice! You're maddening, do you know that?"

Alice stands still for a moment, then pats her back awkwardly. Finally, she smiles. "You're more then I expected. That's why I'm sure you'll be fine."

Alice pulls away. "Goodbye."

Tears stream down Megan's face. "Don't leave, Alice. I'm so scared."

Alice gives her a little, reassuring smile, then turns.

Megan watches her disappear into jungle, every part of her wanting to follow. She curses herself for crying, like Alice had always expected her to do.

She stands there until she is completely alone.

The jungle swallows her up.

She needs to get to the hills, to find The Orchid.

She picks up the C4 and starts walking.


	11. Dead is Dead

**Chapter Ten: _Dead is Dead_**

_"T'es changé! Cette machine t'as changé!" - Rousseau, "This Place is Death", season five_

Megan named her daughter Miriam.

She sits on top of one of the hills Alice had pointed out to her, so long ago. The sky is unbelievably blue.

She holds the baby in her arms, rocking her back and forth as Miriam's eyelids begin to droop.

Megan sings, softly. "_Oh, my darling, oh, my darling… oh, my darling Clementine… you are lost and gone forever… awful sorry…_"

Her voice trails off as her baby's eyes close.

She's been alone for three weeks now.

Giving birth was the most terrifying experience she'd ever had. Toward the end, she started hallucinating – she could have sworn her uncle was there.

She hasn't found The Orchid yet. Alice's map was no help. The pack lies, unopened, next to an old shoe and a very worn copy of _Peter Pan_.

But she did find the radio tower. And she had left a message.

_"I'm alone now. Alone, on the Island… it killed them. It killed them all."_

She doesn't think the thing is following her anymore; she hasn't heard it since the day Alice left. But she's sure the people are back. She can hear them. They whisper.

"Megan? Megan, is that you?"

Megan screams and jumps to her feet. In one hand, she clutches Miriam, the other pulls out her gun, pointing it at the point where she thought she heard the voice.

Someone is coming up the hill.

It's Walt.

He smiles.

She lowers the gun.

"W-Walt?"

"Megan!" he smiles. "It's so good to see you!"

Megan takes a step back from him. "You're dead," she says, flatly.

"No," Walt says, his plastic smile still in place. "Look at me – I'm very alive."

Megan doesn't say anything. Something isn't right. He had died. Alice said so, and she hadn't been wrong yet. And dead is dead.

He continues to move towards her. Megan's gun flies back up. "Stop it!" she cries. "Stop right there!"

The baby starts wailing.

"It's all right, it's all right," Walt assures her.

Megan's mind leaves him. She doesn't know whether to put down her gun and comfort Miriam properly, or to keep it fixed on the chest of the man.

"Megan," Walt says, drawing her thoughts back to him. "I need your help."

"With what?" she says very quietly.

He takes a step forward and Megan rising her gun level with his head. Walt doesn't seem phased. "Come on, Megan," he says. "We have work do."

"W-work?"

"Megan," he says, "relax. You _know_ me."

"No... That thing... it got you! That monster got you!"

"It's not a monster," Walt explains, "it's a security system."

He takes another step forward.

Megan's heart beats furiously as Miriam continues to cry.

"What did you say to me in the tea shop?" she demands.

"What are you talking about?" Walt asks, smiling at her.

"When we first met! What did you say to me?"

Walt looks confused. "Megan, that was so long ago - "

"_You would remember_."

"Please, Megan. You've been alone too long. You're parinoid and afraid. Trust me."

Megan shakes her head slowly. "_Miracles_," she hisses.

The gun shot rings out through the jungle.

**LOST.**


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_"It only happens once. Anything before that is just progress." - Jacob, "The Incident", season five_

The phone rings. Clementine groans as she rolls over in bed to pick it up. The clock reads 3:16am.

The man beside her is still sound asleep.

Rolling her eyes at him, she picks up the phone.

"Hello?" she says, groggily.

"Hello, Miss Philips?" comes a very excited voice from the other line. "It's me again. Listen, I think I've figured it out – "

"You _again_?" Clementine moaned. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"What? No. I guess I lost track. And I didn't account for the time difference. But please, listen to me."

"Why? You're just going to tell me that I'm going to die, right? That's I'm in _grave danger_?"

The woman's voice sounds terrified. "Yes! Please, Miss Philips, I've figured it out. Megan set off the bomb. But it didn't work like it was supposed to! It created an alternate time, but the other time – the time when we were on the _White Rabbit_ – still exists. But I think I know how to – "

"For the _last time_," Clementine sighs, annoyed, "I was never on a boat with you. I don't even _know_ anyone named Megan!"

"You died on the Island!" the woman cries. "And you'll die here if we don't change that! You can't live in one time and not the other!"

"This is crazy."

"Miss Philips - "

"_Goodnight_."

"No! Miss Philips, please! Is he there? Is _he_ there? Let me talk to him!"

"Goodbye, Miss Faraday," Clementine sighs, hanging up the phone.

The man beside her groans. "Are you awake?" he mumbles.

Clementine lies back down. "Yeah. That English woman called again."

He rubs his eyes and yawns.

Clementine bites her lip. "Do you think… do you think maybe we should listen to her?" she asks.

"No, Clem. She's insane. Just go back to sleep."

She shakes his shoulder. "But she said something about Aaron last week. Remember?"

"Of course she did – he's one of the Oceanic Six. She probably knows all about him."

"Yeah," Clementine says, fluffing her pillow. "It' just… what if she's not insane? What if we're supposed to talk to her?"

"Don't worry," he says, smiling warmly at her. "I've heard everything she's had to say. She wants tp change some past the doesn't exist or... something."

Clementine laughs at how confused he looks.

He laughs, too. "This is how I see it - whatever happened, happened. We can't change that. But, in the end, things always work out how they're supposed to be, you know?"

Clementine smiles. "Like fate?"

"Yeah. Kinda like fate."

She kisses him. "You're right," she says, softly. "I'm sure _this_ is how it's supposed to be."

He smiles and wraps and arm around her, closing his eyes again.

"I love you, Clem."

"I love you, too, Walt."


End file.
